YCLOAK

Beirut, Lebanon — For decades, Tele Liban has been a mainstay of Lebanese living rooms. Now the country is seeking UNESCO recognition for the archives of its pioneering Arab broadcaster. 

Information Minister Ziad Makary told AFP that Beirut would apply to have the full archives of Tele Liban added to the United Nations cultural body’s Memory of the World Register, which UNESCO says “aims to prevent the irrevocable loss of documentary heritage.” 

Tele Liban was “the first television (network) to be established in the Arab world on a state level,” Makary said, adding that Lebanon had the region’s “oldest audiovisual archive.” 

The collection includes footage that dates back “to World War II and the 1940s,” although Tele Liban did air its first program until 1959, the minister said from his Beirut office. 

Were it to join the register, it would sit alongside hundreds of other entries, spanning print, audiovisual, digital and other heritage from across the globe. 

Archives documents culture, politics

The only television channel in Lebanon until 1985, the broadcaster’s archive is brimming with years of history, politics and culture not only from Lebanon but across the Arab world, during tumultuous decades in the region. 

It counts more than 50,000 hours of recordings, from interviews and news programs to music concerts, including of Egypt’s revered 20th century singer Umm Kalthoum and French diva Dalida. 

The collection captured Lebanon’s “cultural and political life” and was unique in the country, Alfred Akar, Tele Liban’s head of archives, told AFP. 

In Lebanon, there is nostalgia for the now cash-strapped Tele Liban’s “golden age” during the 1960s and ’70s, when it featured prominent personalities on its programs that ranged from entertainment and comedy to drama. 

As sectarian tensions peaked and the country plunged into the grueling 1975-1990 civil war, Tele Liban became a witness to the country’s divisions and suffering. 

Makary noted the need to preserve history, pointing to “the archive’s importance in the collective memory and (its) cultural impact on the region.” 

Putting heritage on map

If successful, its entry on the UNESCO register would have great symbolic importance and put Lebanon’s “media heritage on the world map,” Makary said. 

The aim is to include not only Tele Liban’s archive but also that of the public radio and the National News Agency, Makary said, adding that work on the official submission would begin next month. 

Lebanon has two other entries on the Memory of the World Register: commemorative stela spanning more than three millennia at a site north of Beirut, and the Phoenician alphabet, which the U.N. body’s website describes as “the prototype for all alphabets in the world.”  

In 2010, work began on modernizing the Tele Liban archive and transferring it to updated equipment despite little financial support, in a country where dysfunctional public services have now been swallowed by a crushing four-year economic crisis. 

The digitization process is ongoing. 

Zaven Kouyoumdjian, author of two books on television including “Lebanon on Screen,” said Tele Liban was part of a modernizing effort in the Arab world and also “brought all Lebanese together.” 

The broadcaster’s archive is “a national treasure,” said the author and television personality. 

It “stores Lebanon’s cultural identity,” he told AFP. 
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MILAN — The Italian city of Venice announced new limits Saturday on the size of tourist groups, the latest move to reduce the pressure of mass tourism on the famed canal city.

Starting in June, groups will be limited to 25 people, or roughly half the capacity of a tourist bus, and the use of loudspeakers, “which can generate confusion and disturbances,” will be banned, the city said in a statement.

The city official charged with security, Elisabetta Pesce, said the policies were aimed at improving the movement of groups through Venice’s historic center as well as the heavily visited islands of Murano, Burano and Torcello.

The city previously announced plans to test a new day-tripper fee this year. The 5 euros ($5.45) per-person fee will be applied on 29 peak days between April and mid-July, including most weekends. It is intended to regulate crowds, encourage longer visits and improve the quality of life for Venice residents.

The U.N. cultural agency cited tourism’s impact on the fragile lagoon city as a major factor in it twice considering placing Venice on UNESCO’s list of heritage sites in danger.

The city escaped the first time by limiting the arrival of large cruise ships through the Giudecca Canal and again in September when it announced the roll-out of the day-tripper charge, which had been delayed when tourism declined during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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PARIS — The Tour d’Argent already boasts a 320,000-bottle wine cellar, a world-famous duck recipe and a storied 441-year history. Now, the legendary Paris restaurant is about to serve up its “plat de résistance”: a front-row view of two of the biggest events of 2024 — the renaissance of Notre Dame Cathedral and the 2024 Summer Olympics.

A city landmark unto itself — and an inspiration for the restaurant in the movie Ratatouille — the Tour d’Argent recently reopened after its own renovation, which preserved revered traditions while adapting to the 21st century.

”It’s very reassuring for many customers to see that such establishments are still present in our history, and in French gastronomic history,” owner and CEO André Terrail told The Associated Press.

The restaurant claims to be the oldest in Paris, its 1582 opening date embossed on the doors. It says King Henri IV ate heron pâté here; ”Sun King” Louis XIV hosted a meal here involving an entire cow; and presidents, artists like Salvador Dalí, and celebrities including Marilyn Monroe have graced its tables in the generations since.

Today the Michelin-starred restaurant remains one of the most exclusive places to dine in the French capital, out of reach for most. The simplest fixed-price lunch menu runs to 150 euros ($167), and the most affordable fixed-price dinner is 360 euros – and that’s without even peeking at the 8-kilogram book dubbed the ”bible” of its wine cellar.

But the reborn Tour d’Argent offers options for those who want to breathe in its rarefied atmosphere without investing in a full meal: A ground-floor lounge serving croissants in the morning, an adjacent bar serving fireside cocktails in the evening, and a rooftop bar open in the warmer months, where the restaurant’s breathtaking views are on full display.

Notre Dame Cathedral takes center stage in this Paris panorama, a construction site like no other. Artisans are mounting a new spire and roof on the monument, replacing those that collapsed in a 2019 fire that threatened to destroy the entire medieval cathedral.

Piece by piece, the scaffolding that enshrouds the site will come down over the course of 2024, in time for its planned December 8 reopening to the public.

For its neighbors at the Tour d’Argent, the restoration of Notre Dame is welcome news.

“Notre Dame is a landmark and probably had lost a little bit of attention to the Eiffel Tower,” Terrail said. After the fire, Notre Dame enjoyed an injection of funding, notably from the U.S. ”Lots of love coming from abroad, making sure that the cathedral was renovated,” he said.

Terrail had been mulling a makeover for the Tour d’Argent too, and finally made it happen after an 18-month closure prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“COVID in a sense accelerated things, and also the Olympic Games, which are kind of an accelerator for everything in Paris,” he says.

“We have a front-row seat on the opening ceremony of the Olympics. It’s a great privilege. It starts just there,” he says, pointing at the spot where the unprecedented opening-day extravaganza will unfold along the River Seine on July 26.

The restaurant reopened to generally positive reviews, after years in which it had been seen as resting on its laurels. Michelin says the cuisine and service were rejuvenated ”without taking away from its nature.”

The Tour d’Argent – which translates as ”Silver Tower” — has a redesigned dining room with an open kitchen, and a top-floor one-bedroom apartment that rents for nearly 9,000 euros a night.

Its signature dish remains pressed duck, cooked in its own blood and specially carved by servers in the air instead of on a board. Since 1890, the restaurant has been giving customers certificates with the number of each duck served. They’re now well past the 1 million mark.

The bustling kitchen staff use locally grown products and closely held recipes, like a seductive “mystery egg” starter in truffle sauce.

“You have to cook the egg white, but not the yolk,” explains executive chef Yannick Franques.

“People, when they come to eat, are quite surprised when they don’t know the mystery and often come to me asking how I manage to keep the yolk raw inside and the white part cooked. Unfortunately, I can’t say, I just can’t say,” he says, smiling.

”The secret’s the secret. Voilà.”
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RIO DE JANEIRO — Brazilians paid several tributes to soccer legend Pelé on Friday, one year after the three-time World Cup winner’s death at age 82 due to a colon cancer.

A ceremony held at Rio de Janeiro’s Christ the redeemer, one of the South American nation’s most famous postcard locations, featured a projection of a Brazil shirt with Pelé’s name and number 10 on the statue and a message from Pope Francis. Pelé was a devout Catholic throughout his life.

“Pelé, as Mr. Edson Arantes do Nascimento became globally known, was undoubtedly an athlete who showed in his life all positive traits of a sportsman. The memory of ‘the King of Soccer’ remains indelible in the minds of many, and it stimulates new generations to seek in sport a means to strengthen the bonds of unity among us,” the pontiff said in a letter as a local orchestra played.

Other religious ceremonies were held at the Museu Pelé in Santos, the port city he put on the map with his goals and success for Santos FC, and in the small city of Tres Corações, where do Nascimento was born in 1940.

Santos FC also held a tribute at its Vila Belmiro Stadium, where Edson Cholbi do Nascimento, one of Pelé’s sons, released 10 white ballons from the center circle. Pelé’s funeral was held at the stadium.

Soccer’s governing body FIFA also paid its respects with a video of highlights of the Brazilian great with a message: “Pelé’s legacy will always live on.”

Earlier this year, a Brazilian dictionary chose to pay a tribute to Pelé by adding his name as an adjective to use when describing someone who is “exceptional, incomparable, unique.”

The announcement by the Michaelis dictionary on Wednesday is part of a campaign that gathered more than 125,000 signatures to honor the late soccer great’s impact beyond his sport.

Pelé spent nearly two decades enchanting fans and dazzling opponents as the game’s most prolific scorer with Brazilian club Santos and the Brazil national team. In the conversation about soccer’s greatest, only the late Diego Maradona, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are mentioned alongside.
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COMANESTI, Romania — Centuries ago, people in what is now northeastern Romania donned bearskins and danced to fend off evil spirits. That custom is today known as the Dancing Bears Festival, drawing crowds of tourists every December.

Hundreds of people of all ages, clad in bear costumes, dance every year around Christmas to the deafening beat of drums and roam villages and towns. The highlight of this year’s festival falls on December 30, with bear-clad dancers descending on the town of Comanesti, in eastern Romania, for the finale.

Visitors come from as far as Japan to see the spectacle, featuring lines of people in costumes with gaping bear jaws and claws marching and dancing. Giant red pompom decorations are usually added to the furs. Some of the “bears” jokingly growl or pretend to attack the spectators.

Locals say the custom dates back to the pre-Christianity era when people believed that wild animals staved off misfortune or danger. Dancing “bears” visited people’s homes and knocked on their doors to wish them good luck and a Happy New Year.

“The bear runs through our veins, it is the spirit animal for those in our area,” said Costel Dascalu, who started taking part in the festival when he was 8. At the time, Romania was still under communist rule and the festival was relatively low-key.

“I want to keep the tradition alive,” the 46-year-old added. When the holiday season approaches, he joked, “our breath smells like bears, and we get goose bumps when we hear the sound of drums.”

Residents are happy that the tradition has lived on after many Romanians left the region in the 1990s to look for better jobs in Western Europe.

Brown bears are widely present in Romania’s traditions and culture, and the animals can often be seen by mountain roads and in forests. Excessive bear hunting prompted the authorities to issue a ban in 2016.

Participants in the festival say most of the bearskins they use as costumes have been preserved for generations and treated with great care.

Wearing a full-sized bear fur isn’t easy: Including the head and claws, the costume could weigh up to 50 kilograms. The most expensive bearskins can cost some 2,000 euros ($2,200), according to local media. 
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new orleans, louisiana — The sweet sensation of fried shrimp egg rolls dipped in duck sauce. Steam rising from dumplings stuffed with chicken, ginger and cabbage. Smells wafting from a plate of General Tso’s chicken on a bed of beef fried rice. 

These are just some of the dishes coming from the kitchen of Miss Shirley’s Chinese Restaurant on a packed Christmas Day in New Orleans, Louisiana. 

On a holiday when most restaurants are closed so customers and employees can celebrate with their families, many Chinese restaurants in America are gathering places for the country’s estimated 7.6 million Jews. 

“Outside of these walls, maybe people are relaxing with their families, but inside these walls, it’s a celebratory madhouse!” said Carling Lee, whose family owns Miss Shirley’s and has owned and operated Chinese restaurants in and around New Orleans for more than four decades. 

On Christmas and Christmas Eve, “we’re slammed from 11 a.m. until 9 p.m. with people ordering takeout or dining in with groups of five, 10, 15 or even more,” Lee continued. “It’s friends and family, and we’ve even sometimes gotten three rabbis in here at once! Everyone’s just looking for a way to enjoy the day off in their own special way.” 

The Chinese American Restaurant Association estimates there are more than 45,000 Chinese restaurants in the United States. For most that are open during the holidays, Christmas Day is the busiest of the year.  

And although most American Jews don’t know how this specific cuisine became so popular on Christmas, few doubt its ubiquity.  

“Whatever the reason, you can ask pretty much any American Jew what they did on Christmas and their answer will be some version of, ‘Ate Chinese food and went to the movies,'” said Sarah Wexler. “Even if they didn’t, they’ll still probably say it. It’s that ingrained in our culture!” 

The birth of a tradition 

Food writer Jennifer 8. Lee explored the question in her book “The Fortune Cookie Chronicles: Adventures in the World of Chinese Food.” 

“Between 1880 and 1924, you had an estimated 3 million Jews coming from Eastern Europe, and an amazing 75% of them resided in the Lower East Side neighborhood of Manhattan,” Lee told VOA. “It was a neighborhood that Chinese people already lived near and Chinese restaurants existed in, so you have these two massive immigrant groups living right beside each other.” 

Part of the Americanization process for those Jewish immigrants was going out to dinner. In the early 1900s, Lee said, Chinese restaurants were the place to go. 

“Chinese restaurants were being portrayed in paintings and movies in the 1920s and ’30s, and they were seen as sophisticated and cosmopolitan,” she told VOA. “So if you were trying to impress a girl, for example, you’d bring her to a neighborhood Chinese spot, and you would appear worldly.”  

Convenient, ‘easier to justify’

Rabbi Joshua Plaut is head of the Metropolitan Synagogue of New York and author of “A Kosher Christmas: ‘Tis the Season to be Jewish.” In addition to proximity and popularity, he says there are other reasons specific to Jewish immigrants that explain the popularity of Chinese food. 

“For one, Jews coming from Eastern Europe had fairly strict dietary restrictions and as they acclimated to eating out in America, many had to come to terms with leaving at least some of those restrictions behind,” Plaut said. 

“Chinese food felt a little easier to justify because it didn’t combine meat and dairy the way other common ethnic foods like Italian and Mexican do, and treif — which are non-kosher foods, like from pigs and shellfish — are more hidden in Chinese food,” he continued. “Those ingredients are chopped up or obscured in a dumpling so if you don’t see it, you can claim naivety. We call it ‘safe treif.'” 

Chinese restaurants were also open on Sundays. 

“Historically, a lot of businesses were closed on Sundays because of the Christian calendar,” Plaut told VOA, “but Jews were eager to enjoy the day. Chinese restaurants also had no reason to close, so Jewish families would go and enjoy dim sum. Similarly, when Jewish families were looking for someplace to eat on Christmas, Chinese restaurants were there for them again.” 

Hot food, warm welcome 

Another reason some Jews say they feel connected to Chinese eateries is because they lack much of the religious iconography present at other restaurants. 

“My family was always kind of uncomfortable around all the saints, crosses and crucifixions you find at Italian restaurants,” said Laurie Sklar, a music teacher in Mansfield, Massachusetts. “But Chinese restaurants have always felt so welcoming.” 

Sklar said she’s eaten Chinese food on Christmas Day for as long as she can remember, and that her parents did the same with their parents. 

“We were on a first-name basis with the owner of our local Chinese place,” she said. “He’d give us extra ice cream when we went. It felt like it was our special place, and to this day Chinese food feels as Jewish to me as matzo ball soup.” 

It’s a tradition that, after more than a century, continues to grow. 

“My 5-year-old son thinks Chinese food on Christmas is what we ‘do’ on Christmas, no different than fasting on Yom Kippur,” explained Joel Tietolman, who runs Mile End Delicatessen in New York City, which has been celebrating December 24 and 25 with a special Chinese menu for 13 years. “It’s truly become part of Jewish identity in North America.” 

Kung Pao on Christmas

Across the country in San Francisco, California, Lisa Geduldig has hosted the Kung Pao Kosher Comedy show during the Christmas holiday season since 1993. 

Thousands of guests attend the show over several nights at the Imperial Palace Restaurant, featuring a Chinese food banquet and Jewish comedians. 

“It’s a place for those who might feel ‘other’ during the Christmas season to gather together as a community and celebrate in a secular way,” Geduldig told VOA. “We’ve had Jewish guests who have been coming for decades, but we also have non-Jews who are looking for something fun to do and don’t want to be alone on Christmas.” 

That otherness is something both American Jews and Chinese Americans can relate to during the country’s biggest religious holiday. Hillary Saunders, an environmental scientist in Albany, California, admitted it was a familiar feeling for her as a child. 

“Growing up I felt very lonely on Christmas. I remember the constant Christmas music made me feel so isolated,” she said. “But knowing that Jews have this tradition, too, that you can go into a Chinese restaurant and find others doing the same thing — it’s comforting.” 

“For Jewish people, every holiday has a food associated with it,” Saunders said. “For me, Christmas tastes like Chinese food.” 
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BEIJING — Chinese lawmakers Friday weighed in on a fiery online debate on whether fireworks should be used to ring in the Lunar New Year in February, saying a total ban on pyrotechnics in the country credited with inventing them would be hard to implement. 

In an unusually frank response, lawmakers said air pollution prevention laws and fire safety regulations have led to “differences in understanding” of the ban on fireworks, which was never absolute. 

In 2017, official data showed 444 cities had banned fireworks. Since then, some cities have scaled back curbs, allowing fireworks at certain times of the year and at designated venues. 

This month, however, many counties rolled out notices prohibiting fireworks, rekindling discussion on the ban. 

“We’ve the right to fireworks,” wrote a user of Weibo, a popular Chinese social media platform. 

According to folklore, the earliest fireworks were invented 2,000 years ago to drive away the “Nian,” a mythical beast that preyed on people and livestock on the eve of the Lunar New Year, or Spring Festival. 

Since then, fireworks have been used to celebrate other occasions: This January, after three years of COVID-19 curbs were lifted, some people defied bans — and authorities — and set off firecrackers. 

But some Chinese said the firework bans were necessary to protect the environment. 

“It should be regulated due to pollution and safety [fire] hazards,” a Weibo user said. 

In an online poll by the official Beijing Youth Daily this week, however, over 80% of respondents expressed support for fireworks during the Spring Festival, the most important holiday on the Chinese calendar. 

Some also said the ban was ironic after the United Nations last week adopted the Spring Festival as an official holiday, a move cheered by Chinese officials. 

“The Spring Festival belongs to the world, but China’s is almost gone,” wrote another Weibo user. 

In southern Hunan province, a major fireworks manufacturing hub, exports totaled 4.11 billion yuan ($579 million) in January to November, state media reported, far exceeding domestic sales.
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Llay-Llay, Chile — Few players of the online video game Free Fire would know that one of their most ferocious opponents — a lithe, gun-wielding warrior in a short kimono and fang mask — is in reality an 81-year-old grandmother from rural Chile.

From her professional gaming chair at home in a small village, the soft-spoken Maria Elena Arevalo becomes a merciless hunter, mowing down rivals in a game in which tens of millions of players shoot it out to survive on an imaginary remote island.

Wearing an apron over a frilly skirt, Arevalo bears little resemblance to her online alter-ego “Mami Nena” — the nickname she got from her only grandson, Hector Carrasco, 20.

It was Carrasco who introduced Arevalo to the digital world of gaming that has given her a new lease on life after falling into deep loneliness following the death of her husband of 56 years in 2020.

“I didn’t even know what a mouse was,” she told AFP at her home in the town of Llay-Llay in central Chile.

“Afterwards, I got excited. We started to play whenever he [Carrasco] could. I felt better because I didn’t think so much about my late husband anymore.”

At first “I didn’t want to hurt anyone,” she added, but with time, she developed a taste for virtual blood.

Today, Arevalo plays at the “Heroic” level — just one short of the topmost “Grandmaster” level that only 300 players compete in.

She has 4 million followers on TikTok and 650,000 on YouTube, where she shares tips with fellow players.

Last year, she visited Mexico City on an all-expenses-paid trip as a Free Fire ambassador for the game’s anniversary celebrations — her first-ever journey abroad.

“All the kids asked me for autographs. … It was beautiful. The day I die, I’ll take that with me,” she reminisced.

Earlier this month, Arevalo was named one of Chile’s 100 most important elderly people by the El Mercurio newspaper and the Catholic University for helping break down age stereotypes.

Carrasco is in awe of his famous grandmother.

“It’s totally cool, and I don’t know, I feel like she’s like my best friend and all that,” he said.

‘I’ll keep going’

Three years after starting her Free Fire journey, Arevalo says she no longer feels lonely.

In a nod to her dead husband, a bird named “Benito” in his honor accompanies “Mami Nena” on her campaigns of conquest.

Almost half of people over 80 in Chile declare feeling lonely, according to a recent study, a major mental health risk.

Ever more older people are finding solace in gaming: a Ukrainian team known as “Young Guard” are prolific Counter Strike competitors, while 93-year-old Japanese Hamako Mori — also known by her alias Gamer Grandma — is thought to be the oldest gamer in the world.

For Arevalo, the online campaigns are becoming harder due to worsening scleroderma, a disease that causes a hardening and tightening of the skin.

But she is not planning on slowing down.

“I love doing this. I’ll keep going as far as I can,” she insisted.
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Los Angeles — Almost a century after his big-screen debut, Mickey Mouse enters the public domain Monday, opening the floodgates to potential remakes, spin-offs, adaptations … and legal battles with Disney.

The copyright on Steamboat Willie — a short, black-and-white 1928 animation that first introduced audiences to the mischievous rodent who would become emblematic of American pop culture — expires after 95 years, on January 1, under U.S. law.

The date has loomed large on the calendars of everyone from filmmakers, fans and intellectual property lawyers to Disney executives, who in the past helped lobby to change law to prolong US copyright terms.

“This is a deeply symbolic, highly anticipated moment,” said Jennifer Jenkins, director of the Duke Center for the Study of the Public Domain.  

Anyone is now free to copy, share, reuse and adapt Steamboat Willie and Plane Crazy — another 1928 Disney animation — and the early versions of the characters that appear within them, including Mickey and Minnie.

A vital caveat is that later versions of the characters, like those in 1940 film Fantasia, are not in the public domain, and cannot be copied without a visit from Disney’s lawyers.

But artists would be free, for instance, to create a “climate change awareness version” of Steamboat Willie in which Mickey’s ship runs aground on a dry riverbed, or a feminist retelling where Minnie takes the wheel, said Jenkins.

That would echo imaginative re-uses of other characters whose copyrights recently expired such as Sherlock Holmes and Winnie-the-Pooh.

‘Legal skirmishes’

But it will not be plain sailing.

In a statement to AFP, Disney said it would “continue to protect our rights in the more modern versions of Mickey Mouse and other works that remain subject to copyright.”

Indeed, the version of Mickey in Steamboat Willie is a spindly, roguish creature who would not be recognizable to many younger viewers.

“What’s in the public domain is kind of a frightful little black-and-white animal,” said Justin Hughes, a professor at Loyola Law School.

He added: “The Mickey Mouse that is most familiar to current generations of Americans will remain under copyright protection.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if we see some legal skirmishes, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we see Disney out there educating people on that point.”

Cease-and-desist letters could be sent to artists producing “high-budget fan art” if they use elements from later Mickey cartoons, such as red shorts and white gloves, he predicted.

Additionally, while the copyright has expired, the trademark has not.

Copyrights prevent the unlicensed copying of the creative work itself, for example books, films and characters. They expire after a set time.

Trademarks guard the source of a work, preventing anyone else from making a product that could mislead consumers into thinking it came from the original author. They can be renewed indefinitely.

Disney said it will “work to safeguard against consumer confusion caused by unauthorized uses of Mickey and our other iconic characters.”

The company has even added a clip from Steamboat Willie to the opening sequence of every Walt Disney Animation Studios film.

“They were very smart folks at Disney — they realized that the best thing to do was to establish that iconic sequence of Steamboat Willie as a trademark,” said Hughes.

Anybody using the classic image of Mickey at the helm of the boat on shirts, caps or mugs could be open to legal action, he said.

‘Circumvent’

Other experts such as Jenkins remain more bullish about public domain freedoms.

“Our Supreme Court has made clear that you can’t use trademark rights to circumvent what copyright expiration allows,” she said.

Both sides agree that the law is likely to be tested in court soon.

Anyone hoping to cash in on Disney’s beloved mascot “should move cautiously and with counsel,” added Hughes.

In the short term, novelty and shocking adaptations, similar to recent high-profile slasher film Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey, are likely to grab the headlines.

But copyright law should ensure artists can use characters like Mickey to create enduring works, just as Shakespeare has been adapted to make modern classics from West Side Story (a retelling of Romeo and Juliet) to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, (Tom Stoppard’s exploration of the fates of two minor characters from Hamlet), said Jenkins.

“I’m interested to see what happens in 2024,” she said.

“But I’m even more interested to see what we’re still talking about and thinking about and teaching and writing about and sharing with our children in 2054.” 
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TAIPEI, TAIWAN — Chinese authorities approved 105 new online games this week, bolstering support for the industry just days after proposing regulatory restrictions that sent stocks tumbling.

The National Press and Publication Administration (NPPA) announced approval of the 105 games Monday via WeChat, describing the move as a show of support for “the prosperity and healthy development of the online game industry.

“It was only Friday that those same regulators announced a wide range of proposed guidelines to ban online game companies from offering incentives for daily logins or purchases. Other proposed rules include limiting how much users can recharge and issuing warnings for “irrational consumption behavior.”

The draft rules, which were published as part of efforts to seek public comment on the proposals, caused an immediate, massive blow to the world’s biggest games market, leading to as much as $80 billion in market value being erased from China’s two biggest companies, industry leader Tencent Holdings and NetEase.

After the approval was announced Monday, video game stocks in companies such as NetEase began recovering from Friday’s tumble. China’s state-run CCTV said the approval “strongly demonstrates the clear attitude of the competent authorities to actively support the development of online games,” adding that most game companies are deeply encouraged.

Chinese netizens, however, aren’t optimistic.

“Isn’t it the daily work of the NPPA to [approve games] on a regular basis? Don’t make it look like [you’re doing the industry a favor]” said a commenter named “OldTimeBlues” on YYSTV, a Chinese media platform for online gaming.

Another commenter, named Mizu, described the back-to-back announcements as a proverbial carrot and stick tactic.

“You noticed your kid is [has] a concussion after [you’ve hit] him with a stick,” they said of Friday’s announcement of new guidelines. “Now you are giving him a [treat] to make him feel better.”

Syu Jhen, founder of the policy think tank Hong Kong Zhi Ming Institute, said that the draft rules would affect not only the stock prices of Tencent and NetEase but the entire online gaming industry, even if China’s economy relies on domestic consumption.

Syu said that Beijing’s “one-size-fits-all” regulation of online gaming shows that China’s economic decision-makers do not respect market rules and often resort to moral kidnapping, allowing the social value that officials want to encourage to override principles of economic development and business operations.

A comment on YYSTV said, “Thinking issuing an approval would boost market confidence? It’s completely scratching the surface.”

Chen Chung-hsing, director of the New Economy Policy Research Center at National Dong Hwa University, said that at a time when China’s economy is weak and sluggish, exports and investment can no longer boost China’s economy. China can only rely heavily on domestic consumption. He said if China continues to suppress the domestic online gaming industry, it may have economic consequences and cause public resentment.

“China’s current unemployment rate is so high that some people may need video games to kill time,” he told VOA in a phone interview. In this case, [the rules] are also [a kind of] deprivation. Then, after these people stop playing video games, what will happen? Don’t they think about other ways to express their dissatisfaction? So basically, [playing video games] is also a possible source of power for [social] stability.”

Tseng Wei-feng, an assistant researcher at the Institute of International Relations at National Chengchi University, said the reason why the Chinese government wants to restrict online games is that the games often have a “group-fighting” model, which has become a virtual platform for young people to gather. He said the government worries that players can be united and mobilized in the virtual world.

“A group of people may attack a city in a certain game, then evolve into a so-called organized force,” he said. “If one day they are dissatisfied with China’s policies, will they all go to the government gate to protest? I think this is an aspect that the Chinese Communist Party has been strictly controlling.”

Some information is from The Associated Press. 
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TAIPEI, Taiwan — China has pressured an influential Taiwanese rock band called Mayday to make pro-China comments ahead of Taiwan’s key elections next month, according to sources with direct knowledge of the situation and a Taiwan security note reviewed by Reuters.

China’s National Radio and Television Administration had asked Mayday to publicly voice support for Beijing’s claims that democratically governed Taiwan is part of China and to join China’s “media propaganda on Taiwan,” according to the internal Taiwan security note reviewed by Reuters.

The note from earlier this month cited intelligence on Chinese government activities gathered by Taiwan authorities.

Mayday are among the most successful Taiwanese artists in China, a market that has become increasingly challenging for Taiwanese celebrities as Beijing steps up its political pressure to assert its sovereignty claims.

Two Taiwan security officials looking into the matter said to pressure the rock stars, the Chinese authorities in December announced an investigation against Mayday, following allegations on Chinese social media that the band had lip-synched during one of their recent concerts in China.

Mayday’s management company, B’in Music, did not respond to requests for comment. B’in Music has previously denied allegations of lip-syncing during the band’s November tour in China, where the practice is prohibited.

China’s Publicity Department, which oversees the radio and television administration, and China’s Taiwan Affairs Office did not respond to requests for comment.

A source with direct knowledge of the situation, who requested anonymity, said Chinese authorities asked the band to provide unspecified “political service” but the rock stars did not agree to the request.

In response, the person said, authorities threatened the band with the lip-syncing probe and a fine.

“They will have to pay up if they do not cooperate,” the person said.

The investigation’s findings and any penalties for Mayday have not yet been made public.

The two Taiwan officials, citing intelligence gathered by Taiwan, said the campaign was led by China’s Publicity Department in a move to sway voters ahead of Taiwan’s January 13 presidential and legislative elections.

By doing so the Chinese authorities believe they could “sway the youth vote in Taiwan,” one of the officials said.

They described the scale of the cross-department campaign against Mayday as “unprecedented,” involving coverage on the lip-syncing allegations by the Chinese Communist Party’s official newspaper the People’s Daily, state broadcaster CCTV, and the official Xinhua News Agency.

The Procuratorate Daily, run by China’s Supreme People’s Procuratorate, also published an article in December describing lip-syncing as an act of fraud punishable by Chinese laws and urging regulators to step up supervision.

Taiwan officials have repeatedly warned in recent months that Beijing is trying new methods to interfere in the elections and get electors to vote for pro-China candidates. Those have included trade sanctions, exchange activities with Taiwan politicians and military moves.

Beijing, which claims Taiwan as its own and has increased military and political pressure to force the island to accept its sovereignty, frames the elections as a choice between “peace and war,” calling the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) dangerous separatists and urging Taiwanese to make the “right choice.”

China has in recent years ramped up pressure on Taiwanese celebrities, international groups and companies to refer to Taiwan as being part of China, to the anger of Taiwan’s government and many of its people.

One day before the presidential vote in 2016, a Taiwanese singer with a South Korean girl band publicly apologized for holding a Taiwan flag, prompting anger in Taiwan as it voted for its next president.
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Every December 31, New Yorkers and tourists alike flock to the Big Apple’s Times Square for the New Year’s Eve celebration. Elena Wolf had a look at how the city prepares for the big event in this story narrated by Anna Rice. VOA footage by Max Avloshenko and Elena Matusovsky.
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Academics used their information gathering and organizing skills as weapons against the Nazis
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Seoul, South Korea — South Korean actor Lee Sun-kyun, best known for his role in the Oscar-winning film “Parasite”, was found dead Wednesday in an apparent suicide according to a police official.

The actor was discovered inside a vehicle at a park in central Seoul, Yonhap news agency reported, citing police.

Lee, 48, had been under police investigation over his alleged use of marijuana and other psychoactive drugs.

Once celebrated for his wholesome image, local news outlets reported that the actor was being dropped from television and commercial projects following the scandal.

A graduate of South Korea’s prestigious Korea National University of Arts, Lee made his acting debut in 2001 in a television sitcom titled “Lovers.”

He later won acclaim for his performances in a variety of roles, including a charismatic chef and a diligent architectural engineer who learns his wife cheats on him.

Globally, he is best known for his portrayal of the wealthy and shallow patriarch in director Bong Joon-ho’s 2019 Oscar-winning film “Parasite.”

His last film, this year’s horror flick “Sleep” — in which he played a husband whose sleepwalking eventually leads to horrifying circumstances — was well-received critically and featured in the Critics’ Week section at the Cannes festival.

He briefly spoke to reporters in late October before entering an Incheon police station to meet with investigators.

“I sincerely apologize for causing great disappointment to many people by being involved in such an unpleasant incident,” he said at the time.

“I feel sorry for my family, which is enduring such difficult pain at this moment.

“Once again, I sincerely apologize to everyone.”

South Korea has extremely tough laws on illegal drugs, with even Koreans who take drugs like marijuana legally abroad risking prosecution upon returning to their home country.

This year, President Yoon Suk Yeol called for more stringent measures to eliminate drug traffickers, saying the country was no longer “drug-free.”

He is survived by wife and actress Jeon Hye-jin and two sons.
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As the end of December approaches, millions of Americans will make pledges to lose weight, save more money or learn a new language, only for most of these promises to be forgotten in a few months. So, why do we make New Year’s resolutions in the first place?
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Paris — With bleak December weather gripping the French capital and world attention dominated by the bloody conflict in Gaza, the slow reemergence of Paris’ fire-battered Notre Dame cathedral is a welcome Christmas present.

A golden rooster — a potent symbol of light in Christianity and of France — once again sits atop the cathedral’s reconstructed spire, replacing one that fell into the 2019 blaze which nearly demolished the edifice. By December 8, 2024, authorities pledge, Notre Dame will reopen to the public.

“It’s extraordinary when you see it up over Notre Dame,” the cathedral’s former chief architect, Benjamin Mouton, said of the spire, which — like most of the rest of the reconstruction — replicates the one before the blaze.

“It has a power,” he added in an interview. “It’s an absolute work of art.”

Notre Dame’s latest reincarnation — the medieval cathedral has weathered other setbacks over the centuries — has not been without a dose of drama and controversy.

In August, General Jean-Louis Georgelin, who oversaw Notre Dame’s reconstruction effort, died abruptly while hiking in the Pyrenees. He was replaced by a close associate, Philippe Jost.

A decision to cover the spire in lead, as it had been before, stirred debate. And more than 100,000 people signed a petition against replacing half-a-dozen traditional stained-glass windows with modern iterations.

But for many visitors and Parisians, Notre Dame’s restoration brings a sense of joy.

Maryse Pinheiro, a retired teacher living in northern Paris, gazed at the cathedral one recent evening, as it was lit up in tiny white lights.

“It seemed like it was in preparation for a renaissance,” she said.

Tourist Thomas Kelly Hamilton from Washington visited Notre Dame during the first day of his stay in Paris.

“It just catches your eye, particularly the scaffolding for the spire, and you can see the cross at the top,” he said. “It was kind of inspirational to see everyone hard at work — working like bees.”

Restoring Notre Dame has been a massive feat, involving roughly a thousand workers on any given day, including specialized craftsmen, and artisanal workshops across France and beyond.

President Emmanuel Macron initially pushed for its reopening by the Paris summer Olympics next July, but reconstruction was slowed notably due to decontamination work from the lead that melted during the fire.

At a ceremony earlier this month, a long list of the artisans’ names, along with holy relics saved from the fire, were inserted into the bowels of the rooster before it was affixed to the spire. The previous rooster, too damaged to be reused, is on display at a Paris exhibit on Notre Dame.

“I believe that all this work is thanks to God,” Monseigneur Laurent Ulrich, archbishop of Paris, said at the event. “In other words, I look at this work and say that there has been much intelligence, much strength, much perseverance, much desire to succeed.”

A rocky past

Considered a jewel of medieval Gothic architecture, the 12th century cathedral has had a rocky history. It was looted and vandalized during the French revolution, and later sold at auction.

When Napoleon came to power, he scrapped the sale and ordered that the building be redecorated for his coronation. The current edifice, which replaced an earlier one destroyed by fire, also saw another blaze in the 13th century.

Investigators are still determining the origins of the April 2019 fire that swept through the cathedral, leaving French and tourists in disbelief. Many were in tears as they watched the steeple fall into the inferno. This time, the cathedral will be equipped by a special firefighting system aimed at avoiding another blaze.

After much debate, authorities chose to replicate the spire built by 19th century architect Eugene Viollet-Le-Duc. But President Macron has called for a modern twist to Notre Dame — by replacing half a dozen stained-glass windows with contemporary ones.

“To break with the architecture seems to me to be an error,” says Mouton, who added his name to the petition against the move.

The windows to be replaced were not damaged in the fire, the former architect added. “And they are of great quality.”
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Have you ever wondered how the holidays were celebrated in 18th-century America? VOA’s Saqib Ul Islam visits Mount Vernon, the historic home of America’s first president, George Washington. At this historic site, one of the nation’s most visited, holiday traditions from the 1770s are preserved.
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Christmas for many is a time of family togetherness and good cheer, but for older adults, it can too often be one of the year’s loneliest days. Age UK, a charity group that deals with ageism and the problems of this demographic, says people can take simple steps to help. Umberto Aguiar has more from London in this report narrated by Elizabeth Cherneff.
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300 people from across the country spend up to a week decorating the presidential mansion for the holidays
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BRUSSELS — The European Union’s top court ruled Thursday in a landmark decision for the future of soccer’s club competitions that UEFA and FIFA acted contrary to EU competition law in blocking plans for the breakaway Super League.

The case was heard last year at the court after Super League failed at a launch in April 2021. UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin called the club leaders “snakes” and “liars” and threatened to ban players from Super League clubs.

The company formed by 12 rebel clubs — now led by only Real Madrid and Barcelona after Juventus withdrew this year — started legal action to protect its position and the Court of Justice was asked to rule on points of EU law by a Madrid tribunal.

The clubs had accused UEFA of breaching European law by allegedly abusing its market dominance of soccer competitions.

“The FIFA and UEFA rules making any new interclub football project subject to their prior approval, such as the Super League, and prohibiting clubs and players from playing in those competitions, are unlawful,” the court said. “There is no framework for the FIFA and UEFA rules ensuring that they are transparent, objective, non-discriminatory and proportionate.” 
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New York — Jonathan Majors was convicted Monday of assaulting his former girlfriend after a trial that he hoped would vindicate him and restore his status as an emerging Hollywood star. It did just the opposite: Marvel Studios and the Walt Disney Co. dropped him hours after the verdict.

A Manhattan jury found Majors, 34, guilty of one misdemeanor assault charge and one harassment violation stemming from his March confrontation with then-girlfriend Grace Jabbari. She said he attacked her in a car and left her in “excruciating” pain; his lawyers said Jabbari was the aggressor.

Majors, who was acquitted of a different assault charge and of aggravated harassment, looked slightly downward and showed no immediate reaction as the verdict was read. He declined to comment as he left the courthouse.

His lawyer, Priya Chaudhry, said in a statement that he “still has faith in the process and looks forward to fully clearing his name.” While he was convicted of an assault charge that involves recklessly causing injury, she said his team was grateful for his acquittal on the other assault count, which concerned intentionally causing injury.

“Mr. Majors is grateful to God, his family, his friends and his fans for their love and support during these harrowing eight months,” Chaudhry said.

Marvel and Disney immediately dropped the “Creed III” star from all upcoming projects following the conviction, said a person close to the studio who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak publicly on the matter.

Before his arrest, Majors had been on track to become a central figure throughout the Marvel Cinematic Universe, playing the antagonist role of Kang. Majors had already appeared in “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” and the first two seasons of “Loki.” He was to star in “Avengers: The Kang Dynasty,” dated for release in May 2026.

Majors, whose credits include “The Last Black Man in San Francisco,” “Devotion” and “Da 5 Bloods,” had been one of the fastest-rising stars in Hollywood. The Yale School of Drama graduate also starred as a troubled amateur bodybuilder in “Magazine Dreams,” which made an acclaimed debut at the Sundance Film Festival in January and was set to open in theaters this month. Ahead of Majors’ trial, Disney-owned distributor Searchlight Pictures removed “Magazine Dreams” from its release calendar.

Majors’ sentencing was set for Feb. 6. He faces the possibility of up to a year in jail for the assault conviction, though probation or other non-jail sentences also are possible.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement that the trial “illustrated a cycle of psychological and emotional abuse, and escalating patterns of coercion.”

The dispute between Majors and Jabbari began in the backseat of a chauffeured car and spilled into the streets of Manhattan.

Jabbari, a 30-year-old British dancer, accused Majors of hitting her in the head with his open hand, twisting her arm behind her back and squeezing her middle finger until it fractured.

Majors’ lawyers alleged that she flew into a jealous rage after reading a text message — from another woman — on his phone. They said Jabbari had spread a “fantasy” to take down the actor, who was only trying to regain his phone and get away safely.

But as Majors sought vindication from the jury, the trial also brought forth new evidence about his troubled relationship with Jabbari, whom he met on the set of “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” two years ago.

Prosecutors shared text messages that showed the actor begging Jabbari not to seek hospital treatment for an earlier head injury. One message warned “it could lead to an investigation even if you do lie and they suspect something.”

They also played audio of Majors declaring himself a “great man,” then questioning whether Jabbari could meet the high standards set by the spouses of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Barack Obama. Majors’ attorneys countered that Jabbari had surreptitiously recorded her boyfriend as part of a plot to “destroy” his career.

Over four days of tearful testimony, Jabbari said Majors was excessively controlling and prone to fits of explosive rage that left her afraid “physically quite a lot.” She broke down on the witness stand as a jury watched security footage of him pushing her back into the car after the backseat confrontation. Prosecutors described the video as showing Majors “manhandling” her and shoving her into the vehicle “as if she was a doll.”

Majors arrived in the courtroom each morning carrying a gold-leaf Bible, accompanied by family members and his current girlfriend, actress Meagan Good. Expressionless for much of the testimony, he wiped away tears as Chaudhry urged jurors during her closing arguments on Thursday to “end this nightmare for Jonathan Majors.”

Majors did not take the stand. But Chaudhry said her client was the victim of “white lies, big lies, and pretty little lies” invented by Jabbari to exact revenge on an unfaithful partner.

The attorney cited security footage, taken immediately after the shove, that showed Majors sprinting away from his girlfriend as she chased him through the night. Jabbari then followed a group of strangers she’d met on the street to a dance club, where she ordered drinks for the group and did not appear to be favoring her injured hand.

“She was revenge-partying and charging Champagne to the man she was angry with and treating these strangers to fancy Champagne she bought with Jonathan’s credit card,” Chaudhry alleged.

The next morning, after finding Jabbari unconscious in the closet of their Manhattan penthouse, Majors called police. He was arrested at the scene, while Jabbari was transported to a hospital to receive treatment for the injuries to her ear and hand.

“He called 911 out of concern for her, and his fear of what happens when a Black man in America came true,” Chaudhry said, accusing police and prosecutors of failing to take seriously Majors’ allegations that he was bloodied and scratched during the dispute.

In her closing arguments, prosecutor Kelli Galaway said Majors was following a well-worn playbook used by abusers to cast their victims as attackers.

“This is not a revenge plot to ruin the defendant’s life or his career,” Galaway said. “You were asked why you are here? Because domestic violence is serious.”

 
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