Category Archives: Culture

Massive Attack frontman Robert Del Naja among 500 arrested at Palestine Action protest

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Musician says he wanted to attend the protest despite the consequences a potential arrest could have on his music career

Massive Attack frontman Robert Del Naja has been arrested on suspicion of showing support for a proscribed organisation after attending a mass protest against the ban on Palestine Action in central London on Saturday.

Del Naja, also known as 3D, was among hundreds of fellow demonstrators in Trafalgar Square on Saturday afternoon, holding a sign that read “I Oppose Genocide, I Support Palestine Action”.

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Indian music legend Asha Bhosle dies aged 92

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Two-time Grammy nominee was one of Bollywood’s most versatile and celebrated voices

The Indian singer Asha Bhosle, whose voice defined Bollywood cinema and whose career spanned almost eight decades, has died in Mumbai at the age of 92.

Bhosle, who recorded more than 12,000 songs, became her country’s pre-eminent exponent of playback singing – recording tracks that were then lip-synced on film by actors. She also boldly embraced cabaret and western-influenced melodies to forge a distinctive musical identity.

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Doug Allan, cameraman on David Attenborough’s Planet series, dies trekking in Nepal

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Wildlife film pioneer has died aged 74 ‘immersed in nature and surrounded by friends’, his representatives have said

An award-winning wildlife cameraman renowned for his work with David Attenborough has died aged 74 while trekking in Nepal.

Doug Allan, described as a “true pioneer” of wildlife film-making, won several Bafta and Emmy awards and was principal camera operator on a number of BBC series including Planet Earth, Frozen Planet and The Blue Planet.

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George Clooney calls Donald Trump’s ‘a whole civilization will die tonight’ threat to Iran a war crime

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White House says only person committing war crimes is actor ‘for his awful movies and terrible acting ability’

The long-running war of words between George Clooney and the White House has ignited again after the Oscar-winning actor criticised Donald Trump’s threat to Iran that “a whole civilization will die tonight”.

On Wednesday, in a speech to 3,000 high school students in Cuneo, Italy, Clooney said the US president had committed a war crime with his threat.

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Hit New Zealand comedy duo Flight of the Conchords reunion gigs sell out in minutes

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Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement announce four shows at Wellington venue Meow Nui from next week – their first gigs since 2018

New Zealand’s self-described “fourth most popular guitar-based digi-bongo-a cappella-rap-funk-comedy-folk duo” Flight of the Conchords sold out their first shows in eight years in minutes this week, sparking a frenzy among fans.

Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement formed the musical comedy act in 1998, soaring to worldwide fame off the back of their HBO comedy series of the same name with tunes including Business Time and Hiphopopotamus vs Rhymenoceros.

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Spanish politicians clash over request to move Picasso’s Guernica

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Madrid and Basque government leaders call each other ‘provincial’ in dispute over the artwork

A row has broken out between the Madrid and Basque regional governments in Spain over the latter’s request for Guernica, probably Picasso’s most celebrated work, to be housed temporarily in the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao to mark the 90th anniversary of the bombing of the Basque town.

The work has hung in the Reina Sofía museum in Madrid since 1992 and repeated requests for it to be moved to the Basque Country have been refused.

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‘The original triple threat’: two exhibitions celebrate Marilyn Monroe as creative pioneer

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BFI and National Portrait Gallery to mark centenary of the film star’s birth with ‘the summer of Marilyn’

Though often reduced to a sex symbol frozen in time, or a tragic figure at the centre of several scandals, Marilyn Monroe was something far more subversive, according to two exhibitions that will herald what has been nicknamed “the summer of Marilyn”.

To mark the centenary of her birth, Monroe is being celebrated by leading British cultural institutions as a performer of sharp comic intelligence, a canny architect of her own image, and a woman who reshaped the possibilities for female stardom on screen.

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Pepsi drops Wireless sponsorship amid criticism of Kanye West booking

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Sponsor pulls out after Keir Starmer calls decision to book rapper who wrote song titled Heil Hitler ‘deeply concerning’

Pepsi has said it is withdrawing its sponsorship of a UK music festival that is due to be headlined by Kanye West after Keir Starmer joined criticism of the event.

The musician is understood to have not yet made an application to come to Britain and could be blocked under powers allowing the authorities to do so if his presence is deemed not conducive to the public good.

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Mexican art world protests over plan to send Frida Kahlo masterpieces to Spain

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Cultural figures sign open letter asking government for clarity on how long landmark collection will remain abroad

One of the world’s most important collections of 20th-century Mexican art, including works by Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, is set to be exported to Spain under an agreement with Banco Santander, sparking outrage among Mexico’s cultural community.

Nearly 400 cultural professionals have signed an open letter calling on the Mexican government to offer greater clarity on what the deal means for the masterpieces, particularly the works by Kahlo, which the Mexican state has declared an “artistic monument”.

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‘It’s amazing’: stolen 2,500-year-old Romanian gold helmet has been found

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Priceless artefact snatched in Netherlands museum heist has been recovered, ending international search

A priceless gold 2,500-year-old helmet from Romania, stolen last year in the Netherlands, has been recovered, according to a Dutch art detective.

“It’s amazing. It’s the best news we could have got,” Arthur Brand said on Thursday, confirming that the Helmet of Coțofenești had been found.

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Penguin to sue OpenAI over ChatGPT version of German children’s book

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Publisher alleges AI research company’s chatbot violated its copyright over Coconut the Little Dragon series

Penguin Random House has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging its chatbot ChatGPT violated copyright by mimicking and reproducing the content of a popular series of German children’s books.

The lawsuit, which was filed on Friday with a Munich court against OpenAI’s Ireland-based European subsidiary, states Penguin Random House’s legal team had prompted ChatGPT to write a story in the vein of Penguin author and illustrator Ingo Siegner’s Coconut the Little Dragon series.

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US-based dissident artist put on trial in China over satirical Mao sculptures, says rights group

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New York-based Gao Zhen was detained in 2024 during a family visit to China and then tried for ‘defaming national heroes’

The Chinese dissident artist Gao Zhen, known for making satirical sculptures of China’s former leader Mao Zedong, has been tried over accusations of “defaming national heroes and martyrs”, his wife and a rights group have said.

Gao, 69, who was detained in 2024 during a visit to China from the US, faces a maximum three-year prison sentence, his wife, Zhao Yaliang, and Shane Yi, a researcher at the Chinese human rights defenders group, said.

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Sad faces all round as Bolivia’s clowns protest over decree threatening their livelihoods

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Clowns in Bolivia are upset by mandate that stops schools hosting events from which they earn a living

Dozens of clowns have marched through the streets of Bolivia’s capital to protest against a government decree that limits extracurricular activities in schools, threatening their livelihoods.

Wearing full face paint and their signature red noses, the clowns gathered on Monday in front of the ministry of education in La Paz to oppose a decree published in February. The new mandate says schools must comply with 200 days of lessons each year – in effect banning them from hosting the special events where the entertainers are frequently employed.

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Painting considered workshop copy is in fact by Rembrandt, expert says

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Exclusive: UK owner’s version of Old Man with a Gold Chain reunited in Chicago with undisputed work by Dutch master

A portrait in a UK collection that has long been dismissed as a workshop copy of an almost identical painting by Rembrandt was in fact also painted by the 17th-century Dutch master, according to a leading scholar.

Each of the paintings, titled Old Man with a Gold Chain and dated to the early 1630s, is a near-lifesize depiction of an older man wearing a gold chain and a plumed hat.

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James Tolkan, known for his roles in Top Gun and Back to the Future, dies aged 94

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Tolkan, known for portraying authoritarian figures, died ‘peacefully’ in Lake Placid, New York, his agent said

James Tolkan, known for his roles as an authoritarian figure in the Back to the Future and Top Gun films, has died. He was 94.

Tolkan died Thursday in Lake Placid, New York, where he lived, his booking agent, John Alcantar, said Saturday. A brief obituary published on the Back to the Future website said Tolkan died “peacefully”, but no cause of death was given.

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‘Break your silence’: Jane Fonda leads rally against Trump crackdown on arts and media

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Actor outside Kennedy Center urges Americans to ‘stand tall against authoritarianism’ and resist free-speech threats

The actor Jane Fonda joined journalists, musicians and writers outside Washington’s John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in urging US citizens to “break your silence” and “stand tall against authoritarianism”.

At a damp but defiant rally hosted by Fonda’s Committee for the First Amendment on Friday, around a hundred invited guests gathered to hear speakers and singers rail against book bans, political censorship and other threats to free speech under Donald Trump.

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‘The violence of racist tyranny’: African Guernica goes on display alongside Picasso masterpiece

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Piece by late South African artist Dumile Feni is part of new series History Doesn’t Repeat Itself, But It Does Rhyme

On the second floor of the Reina Sofía, in the very spot where Picasso’s Guernica was first exhibited when it arrived in the Madrid museum 34 years ago, there now hangs a smaller, near-namesake of the Spanish artist’s most famous work.

While African Guernica, which was drawn by the late South African artist Dumile Feni in 1967, may lack the scale of Picasso’s masterpiece, its depth, anger and unnerving juxtaposition of man and beast, light and dark, and innocence and cruelty, are every bit as disturbing.

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Lebo M sues comedian Learnmore Jonasi claiming Circle of Life misrepresentation

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Grammy winner seeks more than $20m in damages over mistranslation of The Lion King chant

A Grammy-winning South African composer who wrote and performed the opening chant in Circle of Life for Disney’s The Lion King is suing a comedian for allegedly damaging his reputation by intentionally misrepresenting the song’s meaning on a podcast and in his standup routine.

Lebohang Morake’s lawsuit accuses the Zimbabwean comedian Learnmore Mwanyenyeka, known as Learnmore Jonasi, of intentionally mistranslating the chant, which launches the 1994 movie and is central to staged versions as well as Disney’s 2019 remake.

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Reacher star Alan Ritchson acted in self-defense in neighbor fight, Tennessee police say

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Investigation concludes actor will not face criminal charges, with Ritchson also declining to pursue a potential charge against his neighbor

The Reacher star Alan Ritchson will not face criminal charges in relation to a widely publicised violent confrontation with a neighbor, after Tennessee police found he was acting in self-defense.

In a video obtained by TMZ on Sunday, the 43-year-old actor appeared to strike Ronnie Taylor several times as Taylor kneeled on the ground in a suburban neighborhood in Tennessee. Ritchson’s two children could be seen nearby sitting on motorbikes and watching the incident unfold.

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‘It won’t be pretty!’ French and Saunders to play the Ugly Sisters in Palladium panto

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Comedy duo will take the stage together in the West End for the first time in 17 years in Cinderella alongside Julian Clary

Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders are to return to the stage together for the first time in 17 years to play the Ugly Sisters in the London Palladium pantomime.

“It won’t be pretty,” the popular duo predicted in an announcement on Tuesday. “We have wished to play the Ugly Sisters for so many years, it feels this is the fulfilment of a dream – a dream our hearts made.”

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