YCLOAK

Marvel Comics’ first Muslim superhero is making her big-screen debut in “The Marvels” movie. From Los Angeles, Genia Dulot brings us the story of the teenage Ms. Marvel.
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Designers in the Western U.S. state of Colorado are mixing modern fashion with cultural textiles from Iran, Afghanistan, Turkey and Tibet. VOA’s Scott Stearns has our story.
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Since 2008’s “Iron Man,” the Marvel machine has been one of the most unstoppable forces in box-office history. Now, though, that aura of invincibility is showing signs of wear and tear. The superhero factory hit a new low with the weekend launch of “The Marvels,” which opened with just $47 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

The 33rd installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a sequel to the 2019 Brie Larson-led “Captain Marvel,” managed less than a third of the $153.4 million its predecessor launched with before ultimately taking in $1.13 billion worldwide.

Sequels, especially in Marvel Land, aren’t supposed to fall off a cliff. Yet “The Marvels” debuted with more than $100 million less than “Captain Marvel” opened with — something no sequel before has ever done. David A. Gross, who runs the movie consulting firm Franchise Research Entertainment, called it “an unprecedented Marvel box-office collapse.”

The previous low for a Walt Disney Co.-owned Marvel movie was “Ant-Man,” which bowed with $57.2 million in 2015. Otherwise, you have to go outside the Disney MCU to find such a slow start for a Marvel movie — releases like Universal’s “The Incredible Hulk” with $55.4 million in 2008, Sony’s “Morbius” with $39 million in 2022 or 20th Century Fox’s “Fantastic Four” reboot with $25.6 million in 2015.

But “The Marvels” was a $200 million-plus sequel to a billion-dollar blockbuster. It was also an exceptional Marvel release in numerous ways. The film, directed by Nia DaCosta, was the first MCU release directed by a Black woman. It was also the rare Marvel movie led by three women — Larson, Teyonah Parris and Iman Vellani.

Reviews weren’t strong (62% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) and neither was audience reaction. “The Marvels” is only the third MCU release to receive a “B” CinemaScore from moviegoers, following “Eternals” and “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantamania.”

“The Marvels,” which added $63.3 million in overseas ticket sales, may go down as a turning point in the MCU. Over the years, the franchise has collected $33 billion globally — a point Disney noted in reporting its grosses Sunday.

But with movie screens and streaming platforms increasingly crowded with superhero films and series, some analysts have detected a new fatigue setting in for audiences. Disney chief executive Bob Iger himself has spoken about possible oversaturation for Marvel.

“Over the last three and a half years, the growth of the genre has stopped,” Gross wrote in a newsletter Sunday.

Either way, something is shifting for superheroes. The box-office crown this year appears assured to go to “Barbie,” the year’s biggest smash with more than $1.4 billion worldwide for Warner Bros.

Marvel has still produced recent hits. “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” launched this summer with $118 million before ultimately raking in $845.6 million worldwide. Sony’s “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” earned $690.5 million globally and, after rave reviews, is widely expected to be an Oscar contender.

The actors strike also didn’t do “The Marvels” any favors. The cast of the film weren’t permitted to promote the film until the strike was called off late Wednesday evening when SAG-AFTRA and the studios reached agreement. Larson and company quickly jumped onto social media and made surprise appearances in theaters. And Larson guested on “The Tonight Show” on Friday.

The normally orderly pattern of MCU releases has also been disrupted by the strikes. After numerous strike-related delays, the only Marvel movie currently on the studio’s 2024 calendar is “Deadpool 3,” opening July 26.

Separately, after two weeks atop the box office, Universal Pictures’ “Five Nights at Freddy’s” slid to second place with $9 million in its third weekend of release. The Blumhouse-produced videogame adaptation has accumulated $127.2 million domestically.

Taylor Swift’s “The Eras Tour” concert film came in third with $5.9 million from 2,484 venues in its fifth weekend of release. The film, produced by Swift and distributed by AMC Theatres, has made $172.5 million domestically and $240.9 million worldwide.

Sofia Coppola’s “Priscilla” held strongly in its second weekend of wide release. The A24 film, starring Cailee Spaeny as Priscilla Presley and Jacob Elordi as Elvis, remained in fourth place with $4.8 million, dipping only 5% from the week prior.

Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon,” an Apple Studios production being theatrically distributed by Paramount Pictures, took in $4.7 million on its fourth weekend, to bring its domestic haul to about $60 million. While quite low for a $200 million movie, “Killers of the Flower Moon” is primarily an awards-season statement by Apple of its growing moviemaking ambitions.

In its first weekend of expanded release, Alexander Payne’s acclaimed “The Holdovers,” starring Paul Giamatti as a curmudgeonly boarding-school instructor, launched with $3.2 million from 778 locations. The Focus Features release, an expected Oscar contender, will hope for strong legs as it plays through the fall.

“Journey to Bethlehem,” a release from Sony’s Christian subsidiary Affirm Films, debuted with $2.4 million in about 2,000 locations.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.

1. “The Marvels,” $47 million.

2. “Five Nights at Freddys,” $9 million.

3. “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour,” $5.9 million.

4. “Priscilla,” $4.8 million.

5. “Killers of the Flower Moon,” $4.7 million.

6. “The Holdovers,” $3.2 million.

7. “Journey to Bethlehem,” $2.4 million.

8. “Tiger 3,” $2.3 million.

9. “Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie,” $1.8 million.

10. “Radical,” $1.8 million.
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Millions of Indians celebrated Diwali on Sunday with a new Guinness World Record number of bright earthen oil lamps as concerns about air pollution soared in the South Asian country.

Across the country, dazzling multicolored lights decked homes and streets as devotees celebrated the annual Hindu festival of light symbolizing the victory of light over darkness.

But the spectacular and much-awaited massive lighting of the oil lamps took place — as usual —at Saryu River, in Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh state, the birthplace of their most revered deity, the god Ram.

At dusk on Saturday, devotees lit over 2.22 million lamps and kept them burning for 45 minutes as Hindu religious hymns filled the air at the banks of the river, setting a new world Record. Last year, over 1.5 million earthen lamps were lit.

After counting the lamps, Guinness Book of World Records representatives presented a record certificate to the state’s top elected official Yogi Adityanath.

Over 24,000 volunteers, mostly college students, helped prepare for the new record, said Pratibha Goyal, vice chancellor of Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Avadh University, in Ayodhya.

Diwali, a national holiday across India, is celebrated by socializing and exchanging gifts with family and friends. Many light earthen oil lamps or candles, and fireworks are set off as part of the celebrations. In the evening, a special prayer is dedicated to the Hindu goddess Lakshmi, who is believed to bring luck and prosperity.

Over the weekend, authorities ran extra trains to accommodate the huge numbers trying to reach their hometowns to join family celebrations. The festival came as worries about air quality in India rose. A “hazardous” 400-500 level was recorded on the air quality index last week, more than 10 times the global safety threshold, which can cause acute and chronic bronchitis and asthma attacks.

But on Saturday, unexpected rain and a strong wind improved the levels to 220, according to the government-run Central Pollution Control Board.

Air pollution levels are expected to soar again after the celebrations end Sunday night because of the fireworks used.

Last week, officials in New Delhi shut down primary schools and banned polluting vehicles and construction work in an attempt to reduce the worst haze and smog of the season, which has posed respiratory problems for people and enveloped monuments and high-rise buildings in and around India’s capital.

Authorities deployed water sprinklers and anti-smog guns to control the haze and many people used masks to escape the air pollution.

New Delhi tops the list almost every year among the many Indian cities with poor air quality, particularly in the winter, when the burning of crop residues in neighboring states coincides with cooler temperatures that trap deadly smoke.

Some Indian states have banned the sale of fireworks and imposed other restrictions to stem the pollution. Authorities have also urged residents to light “green crackers” that emit less pollutants than normal firecrackers. But similar bans have often been disregarded in the past.

The Diwali celebrations this year were marked as authorities prepared to inaugurate in January an under-construction and long-awaited temple of the Hindu god Ram at the site of a demolished 16th-century Babri mosque in Ayodhya city in Uttar Pradesh state.

The Babri Masjid mosque was destroyed by a Hindu mob with pickaxes and crowbars in December 1992, sparking massive Hindu-Muslim violence that left some 2,000 people dead, most of them Muslims. The Supreme Court’s verdict in 2019 allowed a temple to be built in place of the demolished mosque. 
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“Creole isn’t about a specific skin tone or country, it’s about a culture,” said Mona Lisa Saloy, author of the poetry collection Black Creole Chronicles. 

“It’s food, it’s music, it’s architecture, it’s style and it’s traditions,” she told VOA. “There are millions of Creole people in countries across the world and, still, we are all so much more alike than we are different. We create beautiful cultures everywhere we go, and I think that’s evident here in Louisiana.”

Linguists estimate as many as 10,000 people still speak the French-based language Louisiana Creole. Many more in New Orleans and across the state consider themselves part of a culture that draws tens of thousands of people to events including last month’s Festivals Acadiens et Creoles, summer’s Creole Tomato Festival, and spring’s Tremé Creole Gumbo & Congo Square Rhythms Festival.

But for many locals and visitors alike, it’s the everyday evidence that demonstrates how pervasive Creole culture really is in Louisiana. The state’s stages and airwaves are frequented by the driving, rhythmic scrape of a washboard virtuoso or by the up-tempo syncopation of zydeco music accompanying an accordionist. Its restaurants emanate mouthwatering scents from rich, complex flavors including gumbo, hot sausage, red beans and rice, and shrimp étouffée.

“To celebrate Creole culture is to wake up and live in New Orleans,” said Christina Bragg, a member of the Mahogany Blue Babydolls, a parading group for Black and mixed-race women.

“Celebrating ‘Creole’ is celebrating our day-to-day lives. The food we eat. The music we dance to. The way we gather with friends to parade during Mardi Gras,” she said. “Every day I open my eyes and breathe, it’s a celebration of Creole culture, because that’s who I am.”

Difficult to define

“No matter where in the world you find Creole culture, you’ll see key similarities to what we have here in Louisiana,” said Saloy, who was Louisiana’s poet laureate from 2021 to 2023.

“Architectural styles common in New Orleans like the Creole Cottage or the Shotgun home can be found in other places with Creoles, such as in other parts of the American South and the Caribbean,” she said. “Much of our music derives from the rhythms of Africa and the Caribbean, as does much of our food — elements of gumbo such as the long rice and okra, for example, or the prevalence of beans.”

While certain elements of Creole culture bridge oceans, how one defines the word “Creole” — and specifically the inclusivity of that definition — changes from region to region, and even from person to person.

It comes from the Portuguese word crioulo, which itself derives from the Latin creare, meaning “to create.” It was used during the European slave trade to denote a slave born in the New World as opposed to someone born in Africa. The word then took on different meanings in different places. Creole cultures in much of Africa and part of the Caribbean, for example, came to define an ethnic group made of people with a mix of African and non-African heritage.

In Louisiana, the definition has shifted over the years, and among households.

“Here, the definition kind of depends on who you ask,” said Vance Vaucresson, a New Orleans-based Creole and owner of a local restaurant, the Vaucresson Sausage Company.

“I prefer an inclusive definition,” he said. “By that definition, anyone born in Louisiana could be Creole. During our colonial era, it was meant to differentiate people born in the Americas — usually of French, Spanish or African descent — from those born in Europe or Africa who now found themselves here.

“I like that better than the other definition,” he added, “which says that Creole people in Louisiana are specifically related to the ‘free people of color.’ I like the more inclusive definition better because it unifies us by culture. Black, white or mixed race, it doesn’t matter. If you’re born here and embrace the culture, you can be Creole.”

An evolving term

In 18th- and 19th-century Louisiana, that more inclusive definition was the most accepted. White people with recent European ancestry were just as likely to call themselves Creole as mixed-race residents with African ancestry.

White Creoles claimed the term because it differentiated them from white people who were coming from Northern states after Louisiana was purchased from France in 1803. Mixed-race Creoles, too, claimed the term because it differentiated them from slaves.

“Slavery was so entrenched in the United States, Louisiana included, so I think free people of color or mixed-race people were happy to have a term that raised their social standing,” said Don Vappie, a Creole jazz musician in New Orleans. “It was more of a three-tier racial hierarchy here, instead of the two-tiered Black-or-white experienced elsewhere in the U.S.”

After the American Civil War, however, much of that racial nuance in New Orleans disappeared.

“Creole or not, white people had more in common with white people and Black people had more in common with Black people,” Vappie told VOA. “And white people didn’t want to use a term for themselves that was claimed by anyone who was Black.”

As a result, it’s rare to find a white person in Louisiana today who identifies as Creole.

“Nowadays, it’s definitely more of a Black person thing,” said Bragg of the Mahogany Blue Babydolls. “But there’s still so much diversity in Creole culture. You have Creoles with very dark skin, Creoles who basically look white, Creoles with Black features, Creoles with lighter brown skin and green eyes. It’s people who have been from the region for a long time, and it’s a unique thing.”

And while French Creole is spoken less frequently as older generations pass, there are still many Louisianians who are proudly Creole and want to see its traditions survive.

“I want to see more people learn about Creole culture, no matter what their skin color is,” Vaucresson said. “New Orleans has Irish Creoles, Italian Creoles, African Creoles, French and Spanish Creoles, and more. And they all have their different versions of food. At my restaurant, we try to keep those old Creole dishes on the menu so our past never disappears.”

Saloy believes Creole is firmly connected to African culture and should stay that way.

“The ingredients in our food, the rhythm in our music and dance, the details in our architecture — it’s all connected to West African culture,” she said. “And when those Africans were taken from their lands and shipped across an ocean, even though they were enslaved, they managed to make something beautiful again. That’s our heritage.

“For years, white people didn’t want to have anything to do with Creole,” she added. “So I don’t think they should be able to claim it now that it’s become in vogue.”
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Pope Francis on Saturday forcibly removed from office the bishop of Tyler, Texas, a conservative active on social media who has been a fierce critic of the pontiff and some of his priorities.

A one-line statement from the Vatican said Francis had “relieved” Bishop Joseph Strickland of the pastoral governance of Tyler and appointed the bishop of Austin as the temporary administrator.

Strickland, 65, has emerged as a critic of Francis, accusing him in a tweet earlier this year of “undermining the deposit of faith.” He has been particularly critical of Francis’ recent meeting on the future of the Catholic Church during which hot-button issues were discussed, including ways to better welcome LGBTQ+ Catholics.

The Vatican earlier this year sent in investigators to investigate his governance of the diocese, amid reports he was making doctrinally unorthodox claims.

The Vatican has not released the findings of the investigation, and Strickland had insisted he wouldn’t resign voluntarily. He had said in media interviews that he was given a mandate to serve by the late Pope Benedict XVI and couldn’t abdicate that responsibility, and he had complained that he hadn’t been told what the pope’s investigators were looking into.

It is rare for the pope to forcibly remove a bishop from office. Bishops are required to offer to resign when they reach 75. When the Vatican uncovers issues with governance or other problems that require a bishop to leave office before then, the Vatican usually seeks to pressure him to resign for the good of his diocese and the church.

That was the case when another U.S. bishop was forced out earlier this year following a Vatican investigation. Knoxville, Tennessee, Bishop Richard Stika resigned voluntarily, albeit under pressure, following allegations he mishandled sex abuse allegations and his priests complained about his leadership and behavior.

But with Strickland, the Vatican statement made clear that he had not offered to resign, and that Francis had instead “relieved” him of his job.

Most recently, Strickland had criticized Francis’ monthlong closed-door debate on making the church more welcoming and responsive to the needs of Catholics today. The meeting debated a host of previously taboo issues, including women in governance roles and welcoming LGBTQ+ Catholics, but in the end, its final document didn’t veer from established doctrine.

Ahead of the meeting, Strickland said it was a “travesty” that such things were even on the table for discussion.

”Regrettably, it may be that some will label as schismatics those who disagree with the changes being proposed,” Strickland wrote in a public letter in August. “Instead, those who would propose changes to that which cannot be changed seek to commandeer Christ’s Church, and they are indeed the true schismatics.”

There was no immediate comment from the diocese, and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops merely posted an English translation of the Vatican statement with data about the size of the diocese.

In a social media post sent a few hours before the Vatican’s noon announcement, Strickland wrote a prayer about Christ being the “way, the truth and the life, yesterday, today and forever.”
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Board members from Hollywood’s actors union voted Friday to approve the deal with studios that ended their strike after nearly four months, with the union’s leadership touting the gains made in weeks of methodical negotiations.

Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists’ executive director and chief negotiator, announced at a Friday news conference that the tentative agreement was approved with 86% of the vote.

The three-year contract agreement next goes to a vote from the union’s members, who are now learning what they earned through spending the summer and early fall on picket lines instead of on film and television sets. That vote begins Tuesday and continues into December.

Crabtree-Ireland said the deal “will keep the motion picture industry sustainable as a profession for working-class performers.”

SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher said the studios believed they could outlast actors by waiting more than two months before initiating talks.

“What were they doing? Were they trying to smoke us out?” she said. “Well honey, I quit smoking a long time ago.”

Crabtree-Ireland and Drescher would not give specifics on who disapproved of the deal, and why. The board vote was weighted, so it’s not immediately clear how many people voted against approval.

Overall, the happy scene at SAG-AFTRA’s Los Angeles headquarters was as different as can be from the defiant, angry tone of a news conference in the same room in July, when guild leaders announced that actors would join writers in a historic strike that shook the industry.

The successful vote by the board, whose members include actors Billy Porter, Jennifer Beals, Sean Astin and Sharon Stone, was expected, as many of the same people were on the committee that negotiated the deal. And it was in some ways drained of its drama by union leaders declaring the strike over as soon as the tentative deal was reached with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers on Wednesday, rather than waiting for the approval.

But it was still an essential step in returning to business as usual in Hollywood, if there is any such thing.

Actors need not wait for the ratification to start acting again — “in fact some of them already have,” Crabtree-Ireland said.

Contract provisions surrounding the control of artificial intelligence were among the last sticking points in the agreement.

“AI was a dealbreaker,” Drescher said. “If we didn’t get that package, then what are we doing to protect our members?”
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The Beatles returned to the top of the U.K. music charts Friday with the record-breaking track “Now And Then,” making history as the act with the longest gap between its first and last No. 1 single. 

Billed as the last Beatles song, “Now And Then” features the voice of the late John Lennon and was developed using artificial intelligence. It also features parts recorded by surviving members Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr as well as the late George Harrison. 

The group’s 18th U.K. No. 1 hit, it brings the Beatles back to the top of the Official Singles Chart 60 years after the group’s first No. 1 single, “From Me to You.” The feat also extends the Beatles’ record as the British act with the most U.K. No. 1 singles in Official Charts history. 

“It’s mind-boggling. It’s blown my socks off,” McCartney said in a statement. “It’s also a very emotional moment for me. I love it!” 

The song is the fastest-selling single of the year to date in Britain with 48,600 physical and download sales based on its first seven days, the Official Charts Company said. 

It is also the fastest-selling vinyl single of the century so far in Britain with more than 19,400 copies sold on vinyl, and the most-streamed Beatles track in one week, with 5.03 million streams, it added. 

The group is also the act with the longest gap between No. 1 singles — 54 years — and the oldest band to score a U.K. No. 1 single, the Official Charts Company said. McCartney is 81 while Starr is 83.  

“Beatlemania has returned this week,” Official Charts Company Chief Executive Officer Martin Talbot said. 

“The return of John, Paul, George and Ringo with the last ever Beatles single … has cemented their legend by breaking a catalog of records — and in doing so underlined the extraordinary scope of their enduring appeal, across all the generations.” 
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An exhibition featuring the work of Simone Leigh — one of America’s most influential contemporary female artists — is now on display at the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington. Leigh, known for her focus on feminism, gender equality and racial justice, became the first Black artist in history to represent the U.S. at the Venice Biennale in 2022, where she was awarded the coveted Golden Lion. Maxim Adams has the story. Camera: Sergii Dogotar.
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One of Pablo Picasso’s masterpieces, Woman with a Watch, was sold at auction Wednesday night for $139.3 million by Sotheby’s in New York, the second-highest price ever achieved for the artist.

In a jam-packed room at the venerable auction house, it only took a few minutes of telephone bidding for the 1932 painting depicting one of the Spanish artist’s companions and muses, the French painter Marie-Therese Walter, to be sold.

Femme a la montre had been valued at over $120 million before going on the block, according to Sotheby’s.

It was part of the house’s special sale this week of the collection of New York arts patron Emily Fisher Landau, who died this year at age 102.

Julian Dawes, Sotheby’s head of impressionist and modern art, called the Picasso canvas — which hung in Landau’s living room — “a masterpiece by every measure.”

“Painted in 1932 — Picasso’s ‘annus mirabilis’ — it is full of joyful, passionate abandon yet at the same time it is utterly considered and resolved,” he said.

Walter was regarded as Picasso’s “golden muse,” and features in another of his works going under the hammer on Thursday at Christie’s: Femme endormie, or Sleeping Woman, estimated to sell for $25 million-$35 million.

She also featured in Femme assise pres d’une fenetre (Marie-Therese), or Woman Sitting Near a Window, which was sold in 2021 for $103.4 million.

Walter met Picasso in Paris in 1927, when she was just 17 and the Spanish artist was still married to Russian-Ukrainian ballet dancer Olga Khokhlova. The couple had a daughter, who died last year.

Another Picasso from 1932 was sold for $106 million in 2010.

The record sale for one of his works was of The Women of Algiers (Version O), a 1955 oil painting which sold for $179.4 million.

When it went under the hammer at Christie’s New York in 2015, it was also the record for any work of art sold at auction.

It was dethroned in November 2017 by the sale of Salvator Mundi attributed to Leonardo da Vinci, which went for $450 million and holds the record to this day.

Hot market

Fifty years after his death in 1973 at age 91, Picasso remains one of the most influential artists of the modern world, often hailed as a dynamic and creative genius.

But following the #MeToo movement against sexual harassment and assault, his reputation has been tarnished by accusations he exerted a violent hold over the women who shared his life and inspired his art.

Sotheby’s has already netted $406 million in sales from Landau’s collection, which also includes works by Jasper Johns, Willem de Kooning, Mark Rothko and Andy Warhol.

Flags by the 93-year-old Johns sold for $41 million, while Securing the Last Letter (Boss) by painter and photographer Ed Ruscha sold for $39.4 million.

Auction houses are enjoying a healthy art and luxury goods market, driven by China and showing no signs of a slowdown, said Kelsey Reed Leonard, head of contemporary art sales at Sotheby’s.

Against a backdrop of wars in Ukraine and Gaza, as well as worldwide inflation, the two titans of the sector — Sotheby’s and Christie’s — will be moving a host of big-ticket lots in the autumn sales, though they may still have a hard time topping last year, when total sales hit a record $16 billion.
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The SAG-AFTRA actors’ union reached a tentative agreement with Hollywood studios to resolve the second of two strikes that rocked the entertainment industry as workers demanded higher pay in the streaming TV era, the union said Wednesday.

The 118-day strike will end officially just after midnight, SAG-AFTRA said in a statement. The group’s national board will consider the deal on Friday, and the union said it would release further details after that meeting.

Members of SAG-AFTRA walked off the job in mid-July asking for an increase in minimum salaries, a share of streaming service revenue and protection from being replaced by “digital replicas” generated by artificial intelligence (AI).

The union said negotiators had reached a preliminary deal on a new contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), which represents Walt Disney DIS.N, Netflix NFLX.O and other media companies.

An AMPTP representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The breakthrough means Hollywood can ramp up to full production for the first time since May, once union members vote to ratify the deal in the coming weeks.

“I’m relieved,” actor Fanny Grande said in an interview. “It’s been really difficult for most people in the industry, especially people of color. As it is, we don’t have as many opportunities. We aren’t big celebrities that have money in the bank for months. I just really hope that it’s a fair deal.”

Actors had similar concerns to film and television writers, who argued that compensation for working-class cast members had dwindled as streaming took hold, making it hard to earn a living wage in cities such as Los Angeles and New York. TV series on streaming did not offer the same residual payments that actors enjoyed during the heyday of broadcast TV.

Performers also became alarmed by recent advances in artificial intelligence, which they feared could lead to studios manipulating their likenesses without permission or replacing human actors with digital images.

George Clooney and other A-list stars voiced solidarity with lower-level actors and had urged union leadership, including SAG-AFTRA President and The Nanny actor Fran Drescher, to reach a resolution.

Many film and TV sets shut down when the Writers Guild of America (WGA) called a strike in the spring. While WGA members returned to writing scripts in late September, the ongoing SAG-AFTRA work stoppage left many productions dark.

The disruptions cost California more than $6 billion in lost output, according to a Milken Institute estimate.

With little work available, many prop masters, costume designers and other crew members struggled to make ends meet. FilmLA, the group that approves filming permits, reported scripted production during the week of Oct. 29 had fallen 77% from the same time a year earlier.

The Hollywood strikes came during a year of other high-profile job actions. The United Auto Workers recently ended six weeks of walkouts at Detroit carmakers. Teachers, nurses and healthcare workers also walked off the job.

Hollywood’s work stoppages forced broadcast networks to fill their fall lineups with re-runs, games shows and reality shows. It also led movie studios to delay big releases such as Dune: Part 2 because striking actors could not promote them.

Other major films, including the latest installment of the Mission: Impossible franchise and Disney’s live-action remake of animated classic Snow White, were postponed until 2025.
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The North American box office had one of its slowest weekends of the year, due in large part to “Dune: Part Two’s” absence from the lineup. 

Moviegoers had many other options to choose from. The video game adaptation “Five Nights at Freddy’s” repeated its first-place ranking, followed by “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour,” still going strong. Sofia Coppola’s “Priscilla ” expanded nationwide and “Oppenheimer” returned to IMAX screens. Several well-received indies opened as well. 

But this was the weekend that Warner Bros. and Legendary’s ” Dune: Part Two” was supposed to open, before the SAG-AFTRA strike prompted many studios to shuffle release dates in anticipation of a lengthy dispute that has stopped movie stars from promoting their films. The “Dune” sequel starring Timothee Chalamet and Zendaya was pushed to March 2024, and no major blockbusters moved in to take its November 3 spot. 

Even with “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” still bringing Swifties to the multiplex, and prestige offerings including Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon” and Alexander Payne’s “The Holdovers,” overall ticket sales are likely to be around $64 million for the weekend, making it one of the slowest of the year. 

“It’s hard to reverse engineer, but ‘Dune 2’ would have certainly been the No. 1 movie and it would have been a bigger overall weekend,” said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore. “The strikes have had a profound impact on this marketplace. But this left a lot of opportunity for films like ‘Priscilla,’ ‘The Holdovers’ and ‘Radical’ to get more of a spotlight.” 

In its second weekend, “Five Nights at Freddy’s” picked up an additional $19.4 million to take first place, according to studio estimates Sunday. It’s a hefty 76% drop from its first weekend. That’s not unexpected given that the movie is also streaming on Peacock and that viewership for films targeting intense and niche fandoms are often wildly frontloaded. But taking in $217 million globally against a reported $20 million production budget makes it a hit for Universal Pictures and Blumhouse. 

“Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” took second place, with fourth weekend earnings at an estimated $13.5 million for the AMC release. Playing only on Thursdays through Sundays, the film has made an astonishing $231.1 million globally to date. 

In third place, “Killers of the Flower Moon” was down only 25% in its third weekend, with $7 million from 3,786 screens, which brings its domestic total to $52.3 million. The $200 million film was financed by Apple Original Films with Paramount overseeing its theatrical run. 

After a healthy opening in New York and Los Angeles last weekend, “Priscilla,” based on Priscilla Presley’s 1985 memoir Elvis and Me, expanded to 1,359 screens where it earned $5.1 million over the weekend to take fourth place. Coppola’s well-reviewed film starring Cailee Spaeny and Jacob Elordi attracted an audience that was predominately younger (75% under 35) and female (65%).

“The Holdovers,” a Focus Features release, also expanded slightly to 64 theaters this weekend, where it grossed an additional $600,000. Next weekend the New England-set period drama starring Paul Giamatti as a curmudgeonly prep school teacher will expand to over 800 locations. 

A handful of smaller films made their theatrical debuts this weekend, including Meg Ryan’s “What Happens Later,” released by Bleecker Street; and Sundance gems “Radical” and “All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt.” 

The biggest of the batch was “Radical,” which is based on a true story about a teacher in a Mexican border city and stars Eugenio Derbez. The warmly reviewed Pantelion release opened in 419 locations and made $2.7 million. 

“‘Radical’ is a big winner this weekend and a big win for Eugenio Derbez,” Dergarabedian said. “He’s becoming a global superstar.” 

“What Happens Later,” a rom-com starring Ryan and David Duchovny as exes stuck in an airport, made $1.6 million from 1,492 screens. Raven Jackson’s “All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt,” meanwhile, opened on three screens and earned $12,529, according to studio A24. 

“The overall box office is rather quiet, but there are so many interesting films out there,” Dergarabedian said. “Independent film can really shine right now.” 

The effects of the ongoing strike at the box office are not easily quantifiable. Up to this point, it’s mainly meant that stars without interim agreements haven’t been able to promote their films. “Priscilla” was one of the exceptions and Elordi and Spaeny have been able to do interviews and appear on talk shows to drum up awareness. 

Next weekend will be an interesting test, as Marvel and Disney release “The Marvels” without months of appearances from stars like Brie Larson, Teyonah Parris and Lashana Lynch preceding it. It is possible a resolution between the actors’ guild and the major entertainment companies may come this week, but it’s unclear if that will have any impact on “The Marvels.” 

“All eyes will be on ‘The Marvels,’ not only what it represents during the strikes, but what it means for Marvel as a whole, which is always compared to their past successes,” Dergarabedian said. “But the opening weekend isn’t everything anymore. Hopefully it’ll provide an infusion of that blockbuster feeling going into the holiday season.” 

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday. 

1. “Five Nights at Freddy’s,” $19.4 million. 

2. “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour,” $13.5 million. 

3. “Killers of the Flower Moon,” $7 million. 

4. “Priscilla,” $5.1 million. 

5. “Radical,” $2.7 million. 

6. “The Exorcist: Believer,” $2.2 million. 

7. “After Death,” $2 million. 

8. “Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie,” $2 million. 

9. “What Happens Later,” $1.6 million. 

10. “Freelance,” $1.3 million. 
    …

More than a dozen U.S. states have enacted or introduced legislation to restrict drag shows. The moves are the product of socially conservative momentum against shows where performers who are mostly men dress mostly as women. Gustavo Martinez Contreras reports from a unique show in New Mexico. Camera: Gustavo Martinez Contreras.
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A diver who spotted something metallic not far from Sardinia’s coast has led to the discovery of tens of thousands of ancient bronze coins.

Italy’s culture ministry said Saturday that the diver alerted authorities, who sent divers assigned to an art protection squad along with others from the ministry’s undersea archaeology department.

The coins dating from the first half of the fourth century were found in sea grass, not far from the northeast shore of the Mediterranean island. The ministry didn’t say exactly when the first diver caught a glimpse of something metallic just off shore, not far from the town of Arzachena.

Exactly how many coins have been retrieved hasn’t been determined yet, as they are being sorted. A ministry statement estimated that there are at least about 30,000 and possibly as many as 50,000, given their collective weight.

“All the coins were in an excellent and rare state of preservation,” the ministry said. The few coins that were damaged still had legible inscriptions, it said.

“The treasure found in the waters off Arzachena represent one of the most important coin discoveries,” in recent years, said Luigi La Rocca, a Sardinian archaeology department official.

La Rocca added in a statement that the find is “further evidence of the richness and importance of the archaeological heritage that the seabed of our seas, crossed by men and goods from the most ancient of epochs, still keep and preserve.”

Firefighter divers and border police divers were also involved in locating and retrieving the coins.

The coins were mainly found in a wide area of sand between the underwater seagrass and the beach, the ministry said. Given the location and shape of the seabed, there could be remains of ship wreckage nearby, the ministry said.
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Sheryl Crow and Olivia Rodrigo kicked off the 2023 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony Friday night, and Missy Elliott closed the show more than four hours later with a roof-shaking set, as the hall celebrated a strong representation of women and Black artists.

Chaka Khan, Kate Bush, “Soul Train” creator Don Cornelius, the Spinners and DJ Kool Herc were also inducted in a celebration of funk, art-rock, R&B and hip-hop, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary. Country music was represented by Willie Nelson, punk had Rage Against the Machine, the late George Michael repped pure pop and Link Wray defined guitar heroes.

The ceremony’s strong representation of Black and women artists this year came not long after the hall removed Rolling Stone co-founder Jann Wenner from its board of directors. Wenner, who also co-founded the hall, had said that Black and female musicians “didn’t articulate at the level” of the white musicians featured in his new book of interviews. He later apologized.

The new inductees’ talent seemed to show how misguided Wenner’s initial stance was. Elton John’s songwriting partner, Bernie Taupin, drew cheers when he slyly said he was honored to join the 2023 class with such “profoundly articulate women” and “articulate Black artists.”

Queen Latifah introduced Missy Elliott, who became the first female hip-hop artist in the rock hall, smashing the boundaries of fashion and style along the way. “Nothing sounded the same after Missy came onto the scene,” Latifah said. “She is avant-garde without even trying.”

Elliott then appeared onstage at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center as if beamed from a spaceship and with smoke machines pumping, a kinetic light show and a massive digital screen working overtime, performed “Get Ur Freak On,” “The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly),” “Work It,” “Pass That Dutch” and “Lose Control.”

“Missy will wear you out!” Queen Latifah joked after the set. “This woman goes hard for the art.” Elliott, in a sparkly bucket hat, had her mother in attendance, the first time she saw her daughter perform live.

Elliott noted hip-hop’s anniversary, 50 years after its birth in New York. “To be standing here, it means so much to me,” she said. Of her fellow inductees, she said: “I’m honored just to be in a room with you all.”

The show kicked off when Crow and Rodrigo — both in black — traded verses as they played guitars. Stevie Nicks later joined Crow for a performance of “Strong Enough,” and Peter Frampton came out to help sing “Everyday Is a Winding Road.”

“This is a little bit like getting an Oscar for a screenplay you have not finished writing,” Crow said. She thanked her parents for unconditional love “and piano lessons.” She called music a “universal gift.”

Laura Dern inducted Crow, calling her friend “a badass goddess.” Dern said the music business initially had no idea what to do with a Southern female guitar-playing singer-songwriter. But it soon learned. “She mapped out the chapters of our lives,” Dern said.

John came out of retirement to perform and toast Taupin. “He became my best friend and my lyricist,” John said. “He is without doubt one the finest lyric writers of all time.”

John joked that the two never had an argument over their 56 years together. “He was disgusted by my behavior, but that’s a given.” John also revealed that the two have just finished a new album.

The two men hugged at the podium, and Taupin said he found in John when they met in 1967 someone “to inspire with their imagination and ignite your dreams.” John then sat at the piano to sing “Tiny Dancer.”

H.E.R., Sia and Common accompanied Khan for a medley of her funky hits that included “I Feel For You,” “Ain’t Nobody,” “Sweet Thing” and “I’m Every Woman,” the latter which brought nearly everyone to their feet.

At the podium, Khan called up guitarist Tony Maiden, a member of the band Rufus, which featured Khan in her early career. “Without him and the band, I would not be here today,” Khan said.

Nelson’s part of the ceremony took a fair chunk of the night, with Dave Matthews playing an acoustic “Funny How Time Slips Away,” and the legend joining Chris Stapleton on “Whiskey River,” dueting with Crow for “Crazy.” All three musicians combined with Nelson for a rollicking “On the Road Again,” which got a standing ovation.

Matthews said Nelson, 90, wrote his first song at 7 in 1940 and has put out more than 70 albums. He ran through the legendary musician’s career, including Farm Aid, IRS troubles and Nelson’s preference for pot. “It’s people like Willie Nelson who give me hope for the world,” Matthews said.

When it was his turn, Nelson thanked his wife, Annie, for “keeping me out here, doing what I’m meant to do.” He added: “Thanks for appreciating my music.”

Andrew Ridgeley honored his partner in Wham!, the late George Michael. “His music was key to his compassion,” Ridgeley said. “George is one of the greatest singers of our time.”

Michael attracted an intriguing trio of performers in his honor: Miguel, Carrie Underwood and Adam Levine, who each performed one of his hits — “Careless Whisper,” “Faith” and “One More Try.”

Another posthumous inductee was “Soul Train” creator Don Cornelius. A huge sign from his old TV dance show was lowered and the crowd danced happily. Snoop Dogg, Questlove and Lionel Richie in a video called the program a rite of passage and a pioneering show that elevated Black music and culture.

Big Boi inducted Kate Bush, telling the crowd he never knew what to expect from her music and comparing her insistence on producing her own work to being very hip-hop. “Who sounds like Kate Bush?” he asked. “If you were hearing Kate’s music for the first time, why wouldn’t you believe this was a current artist?”

St. Vincent took the stage to perform a solemn “Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God),” the Bush song that bumped up her popularity after the TV show “Stranger Things” featured it. Bush didn’t make it to Friday’s ceremony.

LL Cool J presented inductee DJ Kool Herc, called the Father of Hip-Hop. “Arguably, no one made a bigger contribution to hip-hop culture than DJ Kool Herc,” LL Cool J said and then turned to the older artist: “You lit the fire, and it’s still blazing.” A visibly moved Herc was unable to speak for a few moments before thanking his parents, James Brown, Marcus Garvey and Harry Belafonte, among others.

The Spinners, who became a hit-making machine with four No. 1 R&B hits in less than 18 months, were honored by a velvet-jacket-and-fedora-clad New Edition, who sang “I’ll Be Around,” “The Rubberband Man” and “Could It Be I’m Falling in Love.” John Edwards and Henry Fambrough represented the Philadelphia five-member group.

Also entering the hall as the class of 2023 were Rage Against the Machine and the late guitarist Link Wray. Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin honored Wray with a virtuoso performance of the late guitar god’s seminal “Rumble” with a double-necked guitar. The stage was later filled with singers including John, Crow and Brittany Howard belting out the Band’s song “The Weight,” in honor of the late Robbie Robertson.

Ice-T presented activist punk-rockers Rage Against the Machine — “rock rocks the boat,” he said — and guitarist Tom Morello urged the crowd to fight for a world “without compromise or apologies.”

Artists must have released their first commercial recording at least 25 years before they’re eligible for induction. Nominees were voted on by more than 1,000 artists, historians and music industry professionals.

ABC will air a special featuring performance highlights and standout moments on January 1.
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The New York City Marathon women’s record, which has stood for 20 years, could go down Sunday with one of the strongest fields assembled in the history of the race.

Reigning champion Sharon Lokedi looks to defend her title against a stellar group of female runners who include Boston Marathon champion Hellen Obiri, Olympic gold medalist and 2021 New York champion Peres Jepchirchir and former marathon world-record holder Brigid Kosgei.

“It was very life-changing,” Lokedi said of winning last year. “Very excited to be back here again.”

She’ll have some added support from her mother, who flew to New York from Kenya and will be waiting at the finish line in Central Park.

All will be aiming for the $50,000 bonus if they can beat the NYC event record of 2:22:31 set by Margaret Okayo in 2003. Obiri won the Boston Marathon in April, lowering her personal best to 2:21:38.

“The field will be very strong when I’m together with them,” Kosgei said.

Lokedi won in her marathon debut last year, taking the New York laurel wreath crown in 2:23.23. She pulled away in the final three kilometers of the race, winning in unseasonably warm temperatures in the 70s. It was one of the hottest days in race history since the marathon was moved to November in 1986.

The temperatures on Sunday are expected in the high 50s, considerably better for the 50,000 runners expected to start the race.

“I’m happy it will be cooler,” Lokedi said.

The four Kenyans all have a chance to win the race. There likely won’t be many American runners in contention because the U.S. Olympic marathon trials are three months away. Kellyn Taylor and Molly Huddle are the top U.S. runners in the race, returning after giving birth to daughters in 2022. Huddle finished third at the 2016 NYC Marathon in her debut at the distance.

“We’ve got a really strong group,” Taylor said. “When I look at the people seeded ahead of me, I’m like ‘holy moly.’ Their accolades are light years ahead of mine. But that’s the beauty of New York is that you can put all of that aside and anything can happen on that day.”

The current women’s world record is 2:11:53, set by Tigist Assefa of Ethiopia at the Berlin Marathon in September.

While the men’s field may not have the star power of the women’s side, there’s still a lot of intrigue. Defending champion Evans Chebet and two-time winner Geoffrey Kamworor pulled out of the race a few weeks ago, leaving it more open.

World Championship medalists Maru Teferi of Israel and Mosinet Geremew of Ethiopia could win the race, along with 2021 New York Marathon champion Albert Korir. There’s also marathon newcomer Edward Cheserek, who moved to the U.S. in 2010 and won 17 NCAA titles in his college career.

Ethiopia’s Tamirat Tola also hopes to improve on his consecutive fourth-place finishes in in 2018-19. He placed third in the 2022 Toyko Marathon and the London Marathon this year. He’s seeking his first major marathon victory.

Ticket to Paris

The New York City Marathon serves as the U.S. Paralympic Trials, with up to four wheelchair racers set to become the first athletes across all sports to make the team for the 2024 Paris Games.

The top two Americans in the men’s and women’s NYC Marathon will qualify, provided they also record a minimum qualifying time since last October and are ranked high enough.

Susannah Scaroni has already posted that time and ranking.

“It would mean a lot. So much gratitude,” she said. “Would love to make the team in one of those two slots Sunday. It would be incredible to know I’m going to the Paralympics.”

Daniel Romanchuk is an eight-time major winner, most recently in Boston in 2022. He has consistently been the top American in majors, only surpassed by Swiss Marcel Hug, who has dominated the sport.

Extra protection

The New York Police Department will implement heightened security measures for the marathon.

“As tensions rise around the globe, there is a growing concern over the impact it will have here at home,” said NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban. “There are currently no credible or specific threats to the marathon or to our city. But having said that, we will still implement a comprehensive security plan.”

There have been numerous protests in New York City since the start of the Israel-Hamas war last month.
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A new, permanent addition to the sprawling National WWII Museum in New Orleans is a three-story complex with displays as daunting as a simulated Nazi concentration camp bunk room, and as inspiring as a violin pieced together from scrap wood by an American prisoner of war.

The Liberation Pavilion, which opened Friday, is ambitious in scope. Its exhibits filling 3,065.80 square meters commemorate the end of the war’s death and destruction, emphasize its human costs and capture the horror of those who discovered the aftermath of Nazi atrocities. Films, photos and recorded oral histories recount the joys and challenges awaiting those who returned from battle, the international effort to seek justice for those killed and tortured, and a worldwide effort to recover and rebuild.

Underlying it all is the idea that almost 80 years later, the war’s social and geopolitical legacies endure — from the acceleration of civil rights and women’s equality movements in the U.S. to the formation of international alliances to protect democracy.

“We live in a world created by World War II,” Rob Citino, the museum’s Samuel Zemurray Stone Senior Historian. said when asked what he wants the pavilion’s visitors to remember.

It’s a grim tour at first. Visitors entering the complex pass a shimmering wall of military dog tags, each imprinted with the name of an American killed in action, a tribute to the more than 414,000 American war dead. The first centerpiece exhibit is a large crate used to ferry the coffin of an Army private home to his family in Ohio.

Steps away is a recreation of the secret rooms where Anne Frank and her family hid from the Nazis in Amsterdam. Then, a dimly lit room of wooden bunks and life-size projected images of the emaciated survivors of a Nazi concentration camp. Nearby is a simulated salt mine, its craggy walls lined with images of centuries-old paintings and crates of statuary — representing works of art plundered by the Germans and recovered after the war.

Amid the bleakness of the pavilion’s first floor are smaller and more hope-inspiring items, including a violin constructed by an American prisoner of war. Air Force 1st Lt. Clair Cline, a woodworker, used wood scavenged with the help of fellow prisoners to assemble the violin as a way of fighting the tedium of internment.

“He used bed slats and table legs. He scraped glue from the bottom of bits of furniture around the camp,” said Kimberly Guise, a senior curator at the museum.

The pavilion’s second floor focuses in part on what those who served faced upon returning home — “the responsibilities at home and abroad to defend freedom, advance human rights, protect democracy,” said Michael Bell, a retired Army colonel and the executive director of the museum’s Institute for the Study of War and Democracy.

Black veterans came back to a homeland still marred by segregation and even violence against people of color. Women had filled non-traditional roles at home and abroad. Pavilion exhibits make the case that their experiences energized efforts to achieve equality.

“Civil rights is the ’50s and women’s equality is more more like the ’60s,” Citino said. “But we think both of those seminal changes in American society can be traced back in a significant way to World War II.”

Other second-level exhibits include looks at the Nuremberg war crimes trials, the post-war emergence of the United States as a world superpower and the formation of international alliances meant to sustain peace and guard against the emergence of other worldwide threats to freedom.

“We talk about NATO or the United Nations, but I don’t know that most people understand that these are creations, American-led creations, from the war,” said Bell. “What our goal is, at least I’d say my goal, is to give the visitor a frame of reference or a lens in which way they can look at things going on in the world.”

The third floor includes a multi-format theater with moving screens and a rotating audience platform featuring a production of images and oral histories that, in Bell’s words, “really lays out a theme about freedom under pressure and the triumph of the American-led freedom.”

Museum officials say the pavilion is the final permanent exhibit at the museum, which opened in 2000 as the National D-Day Museum — a project spearheaded by two University of New Orleans professors and historians, Gordon Mueller and the late author Stephen Ambrose.

It soon expanded to encompass all aspects of the Second World War — overseas and on the home front. It is now a major New Orleans tourist attraction and a downtown landmark near the Mississippi River, highlighted by its “Canopy of Peace,” a sleek, three-pointed expanse of steel and fiberglass held roughly 46 meters over the campus by towers of steel.

The Liberation Pavilion is the latest example of the museum’s work to maintain awareness of the war and its aftermath as the generation that lived through it dies off — and as the Baby Boom generation raised on its lore reaches old age.

“World War II is as close to the Civil War as it is to us. It’s a long time ago in human lives, and especially our media-drenched culture. A week seems like a year and 80 years seems like five centuries,” said Citino. “I think the museum realized a long time ago it has a responsibility to keep the memory of this war, the achievement of that generation alive. And that’s precisely what Liberation Pavilion’s going to be talking about.”
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In a city whose slogan is “Keep Austin Weird,” one artwork stands taller than the rest. The backyard “Cathedral of Junk” draws visitors from around the world. Deana Mitchell has our story from the Texas capital.
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The final Beatles recording is here.

Titled “Now and Then,” the almost impossible-to-believe track is four minutes and eight seconds of the first and only original Beatles recording of the 21st century. There’s a countdown, then acoustic guitar strumming and piano bleed into the unmistakable vocal tone of John Lennon in the song’s introduction: “I know it’s true / It’s all because of you / And if I make it through / It’s all because of you.”

More than four decades since Lennon’s murder and two since George Harrison’s death, the very last Beatles song has been released as a double A-side single with “Love Me Do,” the band’s 1962 debut single.

“Now and Then” comes from a batch of unreleased demos written by Lennon in the 1970s, which were given to his former bandmates by Yoko Ono. They used the tape to construct the songs “Free As a Bird” and “Real Love,” released in the mid-1990s. But there were technical limitations to finishing “Now and Then.”

On Wednesday, a short film titled “The Beatles — Now And Then — The Last Beatles Song” was released, detailing the creation of the track. On the original tape, Lennon’s voice was hidden and the piano was “hard to hear,” as Paul McCartney describes it. “And in those days, of course, we didn’t have the technology to do the separation.”

That changed in 2022, when the band — now a duo — was able to utilize the same technical restoration methods that separated the Beatles’ voices from background sounds during the making of director Peter Jackson’s 2021 documentary series, “The Beatles: Get Back.” And so, they were able to isolate Lennon’s voice from the original cassette and complete “Now and Then” using machine learning.

When the song was first announced in June, McCartney described artificial intelligence technology as “kind of scary but exciting,” adding: “We will just have to see where that leads.”

“To still be working on Beatles’ music in 2023 — wow,” he said in “The Beatles — Now And Then — The Last Beatles Song.” “We’re actually messing around with state-of-the-art technology, which is something the Beatles would’ve been very interested in.”

“The rumors were that we just made it up,” Ringo Starr told The Associated Press of Lennon’s contributions to the forthcoming track in September. “Like we would do that anyway.

“This is the last track, ever, that you’ll get the four Beatles on the track. John, Paul, George and Ringo,” he said.

McCartney and Starr built the track from Lennon’s demo, adding guitar parts George Harrison wrote in the 1995 sessions and a slide guitar solo in his signature style. McCartney and Starr tracked their bass and drum contributions. A string arrangement was written with the help of Giles Martin, son of the late Beatles producer George Martin — a clever recall to the classic ambitiousness of “Strawberry Fields,” or “Yesterday,” or “I Am the Walrus.” Those musicians couldn’t be told they were contributing to the last ever Beatles track, so McCartney played it off like a solo endeavor.

On Friday, an official music video for “Now and Then,” directed by Jackson, will premiere on the Beatles’ YouTube channel. It was created using footage McCartney and Starr took of themselves performing, 14 hours of “long forgotten film shot during the 1995 recording sessions, including several hours of Paul, George and Ringo working on ‘Now and Then,’ ” Jackson said in a statement.

It also uses previously unseen home movie footage provided by Lennon’s son Sean and Olivia Harrison, George’s wife, and “a few precious seconds of the Beatles performing in their leather suits, the earliest known film of the Beatles and never seen before,” provided by Pete Best, the band’s original drummer.

“The result is pretty nutty and provided the video with much needed balance between the sad and the funny,” said Jackson.
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After an explosion destroyed the Kakhovka Dam in June 2023, the water level dropped in the reservoir above the dam in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region. Since then, archaeologists have found hundreds of valuable artifacts in the newly exposed areas of the site in the Khortytsia National Reserve. Eva Myronova has the story, narrated by Anna Rice. VOA footage by Oleksandr Oliynyk.
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Saudi Arabia is all but certain to host the men’s 2034 World Cup after the Australian soccer federation decided not to enter the bidding contest, which had been widely seen as shaped by FIFA to suit the oil rich kingdom. 

FIFA had set Tuesday as the deadline to formally declare interest in hosting the tournament, but Australia’s decision not to enter the race leaves Saudi Arabia as the only declared candidate — to the dismay of many human rights activists. 

“We have explored the opportunity to bid to host the FIFA World Cup and — having taken all factors into consideration — we have reached the conclusion not to do so for the 2034 competition,” Football Australia said in a statement. 

FIFA still needs to rubber stamp Saudi Arabia as the host — a decision that is likely to be made next year — but that now seems a formality. It would be the culmination of Saudi Arabia’s ambitious drive to become a major player in global sports, having already spent massive amounts on bringing in dozens of star soccer players to its domestic league, buying English soccer club Newcastle, launching the breakaway LIV Golf tour and hosting major boxing fights. 

But FIFA’s seeming eagerness to pave the way for Saudi Arabia to host its marquee event has drawn widespread criticism from activists who say it exposes the governing body’s human rights commitments as “a sham.” 

Saudi Arabia’s sports spending program approved by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has been described as sportswashing to soften a national image often associated with its record on women’s rights and the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. 

FIFA president Gianni Infantino has built close ties to Saudi soccer and the crown prince personally, and has long been seen as trying to steer the world soccer body’s competitions toward the kingdom. 

When FIFA made deal this month to have just one host bid for the 2030 World Cup — uniting Spain, Portugal and Morocco with three games placed in South America — it also fast-tracked the 2034 hosting race with only member federations in Asia and Oceania eligible to bid. The tight deadline gave them less than four weeks to enter the race by Tuesday and just one month more to sign a bidding agreement that requires government support. 

The timetable “was a little bit of a surprise,” Australian soccer federation leader James Johnson acknowledged Tuesday, adding “we’re adults and we just try to roll with it and deal with the cards that we have been given.” 

Within hours of the FIFA announcement on October 4, the Saudi soccer federation said it was in and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) — which includes Australia — said it was backing the kingdom to bring the World Cup back to the Middle East after neighboring Qatar hosted the 2022 edition. 

Qatar hosted in November and December, in the heart of the European club soccer season, to avoid extreme heat in the summer months and a Saudi tournament likely also will be moved from the traditional June-July period. 

Indonesia’s football association initially showed interest in a joint bid with Australia, potentially alongside Malaysia and Singapore, but that faded when Indonesia instead backed Saudi Arabia. 

Australia will instead attempt to secure hosting the 2029 Club World Cup — which will relaunch in 2025 playing every four years in a new format with 32 teams qualifying — and the 2026 Women’s Asian Cup. Saudi Arabia also is bidding for the women’s Asian championship. 

“I think there will be some goodwill created by not going for 2034,” Johnson told reporters in an online call, accepting that the resources of a government-backed Saudi bid “is difficult to compete with.” 

Australia and New Zealand successfully co-hosted the Women’s World Cup in July and August. Brisbane, Queensland state, is due to become the third Australian city to host the Olympics when it stages the 2032 Summer Games. 

Saudi Arabia also will host the men’s Asian Cup in 2027 and has started a widespread construction program to build and renovate stadiums that likely will be used for the World Cup. FIFA’s bidding documents say 14 stadiums are needed at the 48-team tournament. 

Qatar’s World Cup was dogged by years-long allegations of rights abuses of migrant workers needed to build its stadiums. 

“FIFA’s failure in 2010 to insist on human rights protections when it awarded the 2022 World Cup to Qatar is a major reason why serious reforms were so delayed, and so often weakly implemented and enforced,” Football Supporters Europe executive director Ronan Evain said Tuesday. 

Saudi Arabia’s preparation should face some of the same scrutiny in the next decade. 

“With Saudi Arabia’s estimated 13.4 million migrant workers, inadequate labor and heat protections and no unions, no independent human rights monitors, and no press freedom, there is every reason to fear for the lives of those who would build and service stadiums, transit, hotels, and other hosting infrastructure in Saudi Arabia,” Human Rights Watch director of global initiatives Minky Worden said in a recent statement.

“The possibility that FIFA could award Saudi Arabia the 2034 World Cup despite its appalling human rights record and closed door to any monitoring exposes FIFA’s commitments to human rights as a sham,” Worden said.

FIFA’s own World Cup bidding documents push potential hosts toward “respecting internationally recognized human rights,” though limits the remit to tournament operations rather than in wider society.

“FIFA must now make clear how it expects hosts to comply with its human rights policies,” Amnesty International official Steve Cockburn said in a statement Tuesday. “It must also be prepared to halt the bidding process if serious human rights risks are not credibly addressed.” 
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The Spanish soccer official who provoked a players’ rebellion and reckoning on gender when he kissed an unwilling star player on the lips at the Women’s World Cup final trophy ceremony was banned for three years on Monday by the sport’s global governing body.

Luis Rubiales’ conduct at the Aug. 20 final in Australia — and his defiant refusal to resign as Spanish soccer federation president for three weeks — distracted many people from the women’s career-defining title win.

Rubiales is now barred from working in soccer until after the men’s 2026 World Cup. His ban will expire before the next women’s tournament in 2027.

Spanish authorities have launched a criminal investigation against Rubiales for kissing Jenni Hermoso on the lips after the team’s 1-0 victory over England in Sydney, and his conduct in the fallout from the scandal.

Spanish prosecutors have formally accused Rubiales of sexual assault and coercion. Hermoso said that Rubiales pressured her to speak out in his defense amid the global furor.

Rubiales denied wrongdoing to a judge in Madrid who imposed a restraining order for him not to contact Hermoso, the record goal scorer for the Spain women’s team.

FIFA has said it was investigating whether Rubiales violated “basic rules of decent conduct” and “behaving in a way that brings the sport of football and/or FIFA into disrepute.”

In another incident, at the final whistle in Sydney Rubiales grabbed his crotch as a victory gesture while he was in an exclusive section of seats and Queen Letizia of Spain and 16-year-old Princess Sofía were standing nearby.

A third incident FIFA judges cited to remove Rubiales from office during their investigation — “carrying the Spanish player Athenea del Castillo over his shoulder during the post-match celebrations” — was detailed in a ruling to explain why he was provisionally suspended.

Women’s soccer has seen allegations of sexual misconduct by male soccer presidents and coaches against female players on national teams.

Two of the 32 World Cup teams, Haiti and Zambia, had to deal with such issues while qualifying for the tournament co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand.

Even before the Women’s World Cup, Rubiales — a former professional player and union leader — had been the target of unproven allegations of a sexual nature about his managerial culture, including at the national federation he led since 2018.

The Spanish players’ preparation for the Women’s World Cup also was in turmoil in the year ahead of the tournament because of their dissatisfaction with the leadership of their male coach, Jorge Vilda.

Vilda was supported by Rubiales to stay in the job despite 15 players asking last year not to be called up again because of the emotional pain it meant to play for the team. Three continued their self-imposed exile and refused to be selected for the World Cup.

As the Rubiales scandal continued into September, with lawmakers supporting the players, Vilda was fired by the federation’s interim management.

Rubiales resigned from his jobs in soccer on Sept. 10 after three weeks of defiance that increased pressure on him from the Spanish government and national-team players.

He also gave up his vice presidency of European soccer body UEFA which paid him $265,000 a year. One day later UEFA thanked Rubiales for his service in a statement that offered no backing to the women players.

When Rubiales resigned, he said he did not want to be a distraction from Spain’s bid to host the men’s 2030 World Cup in a UEFA-backed project with Portugal and Morocco.

That bid has since been picked by FIFA as the only candidate to host the 2030 tournament in a plan that now also includes its former opponents Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay.

The Morocco soccer federation that partnered with Spain on the men’s 2030 World Cup later hired Vilda to coach its women’s national team. The Morocco women were a standout story at their World Cup reaching the last-16 knockout round in their tournament debut.

The quick forgiveness of Vilda fueled the view that soccer administrators’ actions often do not meet their claims of zero-tolerance of misconduct.

Rubiales can choose to appeal his three-year ban, first to FIFA and subsequently at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

FIFA said Rubiales has 10 days to request the full written verdict in his case which it would then publish.
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Adiara Traore was due to travel to France with an international dance troupe before France suspended visa services in Mali, and the French Ministry of Culture asked the country’s artistic union to “suspend cooperation” with artists from Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger. Amid tensions between France and Sahelian juntas, Malian artists and their supporters are asking the French government to allow artists to continue the cultural exchange that has flourished between Mali and France for years. Annie Risemberg reports.
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The photos of property are neatly lined up, looking — at first glance — like a classic window display at any real estate agency.

“Calm, light filled, and unobstructed surroundings,” reads one, indicating the location as the Ezbet Abed-Rabbo neighborhood, in northern Gaza. “Garden + parking: 120 square meters. Inhabitants: 10 people.”

The photo above it shows the rubble of a blasted building, flanked by a baby-blue sky.

The artwork is part of a trove of paintings, photographs and sculptures that comprise the exhibit, “What Palestine Brings to the World,” at the Arab World Institute in Paris. Running through November 19, the show was organized well before the Israeli-Hamas war broke out earlier this month. Yet the images of shattered Palestinian homes, rings of barbed wire and tall fences are eerily prescient. 

“The exhibition gives a foretaste of the coming eruption, the pent-up anger and the sense of injustice,” said the Institute’s head, Jack Lang, a former French culture minister, in an interview with VOA. “And at the same time, it shows the talent, intelligence and creativity of Palestinians, notably the youth.”

The works are authored and donated by a mix of Palestinian and other largely Arab artists, many of them living in the West. But the themes are about Palestinians: their recent history, their loss, the truncated territories where some live today.

The collection’s home, for now, is the Arab World Institute, whose show aimed to mark the 75th anniversary of the Nakba, or catastrophe — the Palestinian commemoration of their mass displacement during the establishment of Israel. But its owner, former Palestinian ambassador to UNESCO Elias Sanbar, wants it to form the basis of a future Palestinian museum of modern and contemporary art in East Jerusalem. 

On display too is the Sahab or “cloud” museum painted by Palestinian artists of the art house they hope will rise in Gaza one day. With swathes of that territory now lying in ruins, it seems like an unlikely dream.

The war has entered the exhibit in other ways. One Gazan artist died in a bomb explosion. Others cannot be located.

“I send messages to the different artists,” Lang said. “I have received one answer. But it doesn’t mean the others have died.” 

The collection reflects Palestinian history as interpreted by its artists. One massive painting seems a riff on Picasso’s “Guernica,” the Basque town bombed during the Spanish civil war. This time, the structure is an Israeli separation barrier. In another room, photos show yellow no-trespass signs transposed over images of former Palestinian land. 

A picture by Texan-Jordanian photographer Tanya Habjouqa — part of a series called “Occupied Pleasures” — shows two men and a child sitting in armchairs, flanked by an Israeli border barrier. Others depict the dreamed-of return by Palestinian exiles to their homeland. There are only a few scraps of semi-normality, like youngsters on skateboards, or a pair of women on a yoga mat.

The Institute’s chief curator, Eric Delpont, says despite its bleak images, the exhibit offers an undercurrent of hope. 

“The Palestinians are people, like so many others, who have been hurt through the history,” he said. “Yet there is a force of life, and a believing of what can be tomorrow, despite the harshness of today.” 

The show has drawn good crowds since it opened in May, museum officials say, but turnout has spiked since the war.

Events in the Middle East are closely followed here in France, home to Western Europe’s largest populations of Jews and Muslims. Thousands of French joined pro-Israel rallies after Hamas’ deadly attacks in Israel on October 7. Following Israel’s retaliatory strikes on Gaza, thousands more have participated pro-Palestinian demonstrations — some of which were banned for fear of unrest.

“It’s enriching, you see through the works the distress of the Palestinians,” said Radia Robani, a Parisian of ethnic Algerian origin, who visited the exhibit one recent afternoon.

Of the war in Gaza, she added, “it’s hard, it’s sad. You don’t have to be an Arab or a Muslim to feel this.”

Student Gihed Barreche said the Palestine exhibit helped him to make sense of recent events. “It really shows us what Palestinians think,” he said, “and how they try to free themselves from the conflict through their words and their pictures.”

Institute head Lang, who visited Gaza in July and knows the region well, is not hopeful about the months to come.

“The future is very, very grave, and the hatred is very high,” he said, describing both Israel and the Palestinians as currently lacking the political leadership needed to realize peace. “The people who could discuss things a little before are today not able to discuss.”  
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