Author: Ohart

Country singer Gretchen Wilson has agreed to donate $500 to charity to settle a criminal charge related to a disturbance at a Connecticut airport last month.

The Grammy-winning “Redneck Woman” singer appeared Thursday in court in Enfield. A misdemeanor breach of peace charge will be dismissed based on the donation to a fund for injured crime victims.

Wilson was arrested August 21 at Bradley International Airport near Hartford en route to a private show at the Mohegan Sun casino. State police said Wilson was in a minor disturbance on the plane involving another passenger and a bathroom, and was arrested after becoming “belligerent” with troopers.

Wilson said Thursday everyone has bad days, but celebrities are targeted when they have one. She was to return home to Tennessee on Thursday.
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Cuba’s street vendors are bringing back the pregon, the art of singing humorous, rhyming ditties with double entendres about the goods they are selling, with some modernizing the tradition by setting their tunes to reggaeton.

The pregon is a centuries-old tradition that has inspired famous songs like “El Manisero” (the peanut vendor), composed in the late 1920s by Cuban musician Moises Simons on son music, the backbone of salsa.

It faded out in Cuba after Fidel Castro’s 1959 revolution did away with most free enterprise. With the tentative liberalization of the centralized economy over the last few decades, however, it has made a comeback.

Cubans can now get a permit to make and sell their own goods on the street, from coconut ice cream to juices. Vendors often opting for that option, rather than opening a shop, which remains an onerous venture given ongoing restrictions on private business.

Others just illegally sell wares from stores at a mark-up, hoping to avoid authorities and a fine.

Not all street vendors bother with the pregon. Some just shout out what they are selling and their prices in a blunt manner on a loop, often using loudspeakers that they strap to rickety carts or bicycles, adding to the urban cacophony.

Cuba’s pregoneros however, like Lyssett Perez, who hawks paper cones of roasted peanuts to tourists in Old Havana, believe their ditties help them stand out.

“Firstly, it’s so people listen to me. Secondly, so they love me,” said Perez. “For me the pregon means joy.”

Perez has opted for more traditional pregons. She dresses up in colonial-style dresses with voluminous skirts and white aprons in order to catch the eye of potential clients.

“If you want to have fun by the mouth, buy yourself a peanut cornet,” she sings in a deep, melodious voice as she meanders up and down Old Havana’s pebbled and picturesque streets.

Other pregoneros are updating the genre. Gilberto Gonzalez raps about his wares to the beat of reggeaton that blends reggae, Latin and electronic rhythms.

“Toilet paper, so the chorus goes, buy me my people, to clean your bottom, hands in the air!” he raps in a video captured by a passer-by that subsequently drew tens of thousands of views on YouTube.

The video appeared just months after shortages of toilet paper in Havana, adding to its humorous appeal. Cubans are notorious for dealing with constant shortages of basic goods by making fun of them.

Such was its success that one of Cuba’s top DJs, DJ Unic, did a remix that further spread Gonzalez’s peculiar renown. Sporting a cap that reads “Money on my Mind,” Gonzalez said he was just trying to “make ends meet.”
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Girls’ soccer in the U.S. is widely seen as a white, suburban sport that often requires athletes to join costly clubs to advance their skills. But a nonprofit organization in St. Paul, Minnesota, called Like a Girl, wants to open the doors for more racially diverse girls’ soccer by embracing daughters of immigrant, refugee and low-income families. In this report narrated by Carol Pearson, VOA’s June Soh introduces us to Like a Girl’s founder, Kyle Johnson.
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Dozens of colorful pianos are available for the public to play and enjoy this month in several parks in Atlanta, Georgia, during the second annual festival of Pianos for Peace festival, which runs through Sept. 22.

Founded by Syrian-American composer and pianist Malek Jandali, the festival aims to celebrate diversity and help engage people in civil dialogue. 

“It is a true symphony for peace that celebrates our diversity. When we get to know our neighbors, we realize how much we have in common, and that leads to strength, peace and unity in our communities,” Jandali told VOA.

The festival is part of the Pianos for Peace charity, which Jandali founded in 2015 with the goal of building peace and harmony through music and education.

According to the festival’s volunteers — over 1,000 artists, educators, musicians, filmmakers and piano technicians — the community has responded positively to their initiative. Organizers hope to receive similar feedback this year as well.

The Pianos for Peace charity collaborates with the Fulton County Arts and Culture Center, the city of Atlanta and the Atlanta public school system, among others, and relies on funds raised by the community.

The organization plans to expand its peace-building work to art projects and support different art programs in the city.

“It’s about beauty, truth and preserving our shared American and human values,” Jandali said.

Color and sound

The coloring of pianos represents the diversity of the communities in Atlanta. Artists and other members of the community participated in coloring the pianos.

“Not only does the instrument itself become a beautiful, unique work of art, it helps to start a conversation, a dialogue that unites people and encourages them to sit at the bench and listen to each other while playing or singing together,” Jandali told VOA.

The campaign also has its own application that will help locals and visitors see pictures of the colored pianos and learn about the artists.

Once the festival ends, all pianos will be donated to schools, community centers, nursing homes, rehab centers and other organizations of underserved communities.

The organizers hope to distribute about 100 pianos by the end of the year.

“Last year, thousands of Atlantans and visitors were able to enjoy the pianos, and we hear from so many people who say that stumbling across a beautifully painted piano in a park or train station or community center reignited their passion for music, and also encouraged them to become more active in their local communities,” Jandali told VOA.

Syrian children

Jandali said he advocates for building a better future for children and embraces young talent. He has personal reasons for helping children.

“When I was a child in my hometown [in Syria], I did not have access to a piano for lessons, and had to travel several hours every week just to practice with my professor. It broke my heart to see students across metro Atlanta who did not have access to music,” Jandali said.

Jandali wrote a number of symphonies supporting Syrian children’s plea for a better life and future during the past seven years of violence in the country. Syria’s civil war has resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of civilians, including children, and has forced millions of others to leave the country.

“Everyone deserves to live in peace, and I am blessed to be able to use my music as a platform to share that message around the world. The Syrian children deserve to live in peace rather than rest in peace, and it’s my duty to serve and give back to that community as well,” Jandali said.

Jandali is a well-known musician in Atlanta and in his hometown of Homs. He has produced several symphonies in an attempt to preserve the culture and history of Syria and promote diversity in the country.

In 2009, he produced Echoes from Ugarit, the first arrangement of the oldest music notation in the world. The musical notation was inscribed on clay tablets found in Ugarit, a historical site in western Syria.
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At age 7, Candelaria Cabrera goes after the soccer ball with determination. She drives toward her rivals without caring much about getting hurt and deftly manages the bumps on the dirt field.

She wears a loose white jersey from Huracan de Chabas, her hometown, located 230 miles (370 kilometers) north of the capital, Buenos Aires. Printed on the back and on her red shorts is a number 4. She uses white boots and shin guards. Her long, copper-colored hair tied in a ponytail distinguishes her from the rest of the players.

“Cande,” as she is known by friends and family, is the only girl playing in a children’s soccer league in the southern part of Santa Fe province, birthplace of stars including Lionel Messi, Gabriel Batistuta and Jorge Valdano. Former Argentine coaches Marcelo Bielsa, Gerardo Martino and Jorge Sampaoli were also born there.

But a regional regulation that prohibits mixed-gender teams in children’s categories threatens to take her off the field — a ruling that has helped dramatize the inequality in opportunities for men and women in this soccer-crazed country.

“I had to sit down with her and tell her that there are some people who have to make rules in soccer and that these rules do not agree with what she wants,” said Rosana Noriega, Candelaria’s mother. “And, well, we both cried, and she said: ‘The people who make the laws are bad people.’ ”

She was 3 years old when her parents gave her her first ball. They understood that it didn’t make sense to insist she play with dolls, even if there were “comments from other moms that they should not give her male toys because it would encourage her to be a lesbian,” Noriega recalled.

Two months ago, the regional soccer authorities notified Huracan that the team could no longer include Candelaria. She could play only on a girls’ team — and there isn’t one where Candelaria lives.

Noriega took to social media to speak out about her daughter’s case and was surprised to find that she was not the only one. Girls wrote to her saying they were facing the same problem in nearby towns and more distant provinces.

Of the 230 regional leagues recognized by the Argentine Football Association, only 68 have women’s teams. This is just one of the many disparities with men’s soccer. The most notable is financial: The best-paid contract in men’s first division is around $3 million a year. In contrast, women who play in their top category receive a travel voucher of $44.

Argentina’s female players, who will play in a November runoff game for the 2019 World Cup, have struggled financially when their payments were delayed. They also expressed discomfort when Adidas, the brand that sponsors a few members of the national teams of both genders, unveiled the new shirt for the Female America Cup this year with models rather than players.

“The biggest lack is that they don’t have younger players. They start playing at age 16, 17, and by then they’ve missed out on a bunch of issues that have to do with understanding the game,” said Ricardo Pinela, president of the Football Association’s Women’s Football Commission.

“The important thing is that every club in every corner of the country gives a girl the possibility of joining a female soccer team, to play with other girls, even if it’s just for fun, and from there generate the necessary structure that … sets them on equal standing as the male players,” he argued.

After Candelaria’s case became widely publicized, her regional league committed to reviewing the rule in an assembly at the end of the year — leaving her case in limbo until then.

While she’s officially now banned, the team has let her keep playing — at least until an opponent objects.

Candelaria’s most recent match ended with her team beating rival Alumni de Casilda 7-0.

“No one should say that a girl can’t play soccer,” she said.
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CMT is changing their Artists of the Year show to honor only women, including Carrie Underwood, Miranda Lambert, Kelsea Ballerini, Maren Morris, Karen Fairchild and Kimberly Schlapman of Little Big Town and Hillary Scott of Lady Antebellum.

 

The move comes as female artists in the genre have been outspoken about the lack of opportunities for them. Women have been shut out of nominations for major country awards, such as CMA’s entertainer of the year category for two years in a row, and men overwhelmingly dominate country radio charts.

 

CMT senior vice president of music and talent Leslie Fram said she hopes dedicating the entire show to women in country music — past, present and future — will spark a “much-needed change in the industry.” The show airs on CMT on Oct. 17 at 8 p.m. Eastern/Pacific.

 

“This year, we’re evolving the special to reflect what’s happening right now in culture and in the lives of our fans,” Fram said in a statement.

 

The network started a “Women of Country” campaign in 2013 as a way to bring more airplay to female artists, including Ballerini and Morris, and has expanded it into a tour. The network is also doing a day-long “Women of Country Music” takeover across all CMT platforms leading up to their show.

 

Three years ago, a radio consultant garnered national attention for recommending that stations limit the number of female country artists they play to boost ratings, using the analogy of tomatoes in a salad.

 

Many female artists including Morris, Cam and Underwood have all spoken out against a prevailing opinion in the industry that female fans don’t want to listen to female artists. Underwood also recently announced a national tour next year that will include only female opening acts, including Maddie and Tae and Runaway June.

 

Additional performers for the Artists of the Year show will be announced at a later date.
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Christian Marclay’s “The Clock” is both the ultimate feature film and an artwork you can set your watch by. 

The Swiss-American artist has edited together thousands of movie clips containing clocks, watches or references to the time — one or more for every minute of the day — into a 24-hour video.

The result is a mesmerizing patchwork that moves forward in time as it dances back and forth across film history. 

Marclay compares the three-year process of creating “The Clock” to slotting together the multicolored facets of a Rubik’s Cube. London’s Tate Modern , where it goes on display this week, calls it “a gripping journey through cinematic history as well as a functioning timepiece.”

Since it was completed in 2010, “The Clock” has taken on legendary status, watched by thousands of people around the world — including a hardcore few who have seen it all in one sitting.

Marclay knows most visitors won’t see the whole thing, and admitted Tuesday that he’s never sat through the full 24 hours.

“It’s a lesson for life — we can’t do everything and we can’t see everything,” the artist said at a preview of the exhibition.

He likened the work to a painting — “You can come back to it endlessly.”

Tate co-owns a copy of “The Clock,” one of six in existence, with the Pompidou Center in Paris and the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.

Marclay places strict conditions on how it is shown. It must always be synched to the actual time, so that midnight onscreen coincides with midnight in the screening room.

Visitors to Tate Modern can see “The Clock” for free from Sept. 16 until Jan. 20, in a screening room that can sit 150 people on comfy couches. Tate plans several all-night openings so that it can be shown in its entirety.

While few viewers of “The Clock” last a whole day, many stay longer than expected — the average is more than an hour.

It’s a seductive work that engages viewers on several levels. There’s the fun of trying to recognize the snippets as they whiz past — Jack Nicholson smirking; Cary Grant flirting; Hugh Grant, late for one of his “Four Weddings and a Funeral.”

Although there’s no plot, “The Clock” contains sex, humor, action and dramatic tension. When Jeremy Irons calls Bruce Willis at 10:50 a.m. in “Die Hard With a Vengeance” and demands he be downtown in half an hour, viewers hope Marclay will cut back to Willis at 11:20. (He does).

The artist says some minutes of the day were easier to work with than others. Film history abounds in noon and midnight encounters, but not so many at 4 a.m.

Only the insomniac or the intrepid will get to see the pre-dawn segments, and Marclay doesn’t mind if late-night visitors nod off. He says he wants “The Clock” to be in synch with viewers’ body rhythms.

“I love the idea of someone going in and out of sleep,” he said. “It becomes a blur. You really become part of the thing.

“I think that’s the magic of this piece,” he added. “It’s really about you.”
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Alfonso Cuaron’s last movie, the dazzling space thriller “Gravity,” won seven Oscars and grossed more than $720 million worldwide. His new movie, “Roma,” is based on his childhood memories and was shot in black and white in the Mexico City neighborhood he grew up in.

With limitless opportunities at his disposal after the success of “Gravity,” Cuaron decided to go home. And the result — a neorealist blend of intensely personal filmmaking and overwhelming visual command — has been hailed as a masterpiece.

“There were huge and beautiful offers after `Gravity,’ and very tempting. And offers from a financial standpoint that were really appetizing,” Cuaron said in an interview. “But it was one of these things that I needed to do out of the deepest admiration for cinema that has to do with personal journeys.”

Days after “Roma” took the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, Cuaron and the film arrived at the Toronto International Film Festival where the rapturous responses to his soul-searching continued unabated. “Roma,” which will have a limited theatrical release on Netflix this December, is Cuaron’s first Spanish-language film since his 2001 breakthrough, “Y Tu Mama Tambien.”

But for Cuaron, “Roma” is more than that. It’s a new beginning.

“It’s something that’s been brewing for a long, long, long time. I first started taking it seriously in 2006. It’s the film I was meant to do. It’s my first film. It’s the film in the sense that I made absolutely fearlessly. I threw away everything that I have learned to do this film,” said Cuaron. “Well, not everything because I wouldn’t have been able to do this before now.”

“Roma” is about domestic worker Cleo (Yalitza Aparicio, speaking in her native Mixtec), who devotedly works for a family that lives in the Mexico City neighborhood of Roma. Their home life, while pristine, is cracking (the father leaves his wife). And the tumult of early `70s Mexico, when student protests clashed violently with the police, is all around. Society is fraying, and it’s the women who bear much of the brunt of it.

“It’s an observation of a character journey as much as it’s an observation of a country, and a country that, like the United States and much of the world, has this perverse relationship between social class and race,” said Cuaron.

The production was unique. In the lengthy 108-day shoot, no crew member or actor had a screenplay. The only one beside Cuaron who did have a script was executive producer David Linde of Participant Media, who noted at the film’s Toronto premiere: “And I don’t speak Spanish.” Unlike most films, Cuaron also shot in absolute continuity.

“I didn’t want the actors or even the crew to have preconceptions or defined answers,” said Cuaron. “It was a process for everyone to be constantly searching. I was just honoring moments — the sense of time and space in those moments, but also honoring the emotional elements of those moments.”

Cuaron estimates that 90 percent of the film comes from his own memories and old photographs. He reproduced his family’s home, cast actors who looked as close as possible to his family members and obsessed over recreating the details of his early life. Cuaron served as his own cinematographer after his usual director of photography, Emmanuel “Chivo” Lubezki, had to pull out due to other commitments.

“I reproduced every inch of my childhood home with 70 percent of the original furniture,” Cuaron said. “We reproduced every single tile that existed in that house. We shot on the street of my childhood home. We shot in most of the places where those scenes took place.”

And though “Roma” is of a far smaller scale and more intimate than his “Gravity” or “Children of Men,” the 56-year-old filmmaker used many of the techniques he’s mastered from more spectacle-driven movies. He shot it digitally in 65mm and used Dolby Atmos for the lush sound design. In the film’s climactic moment, the sounds of the churning surf on a beach envelop the audience.

On the stage of the Princess of Wales Theatre in Toronto, Cuaron explained the journey of “Roma” to the crowd: “I really wanted to come to terms with the elements that forged me.”
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The response to Bradley Cooper’s romantic saga “A Star Is Born” has been intense. Critics have boasted of crying uncontrollably. Fans outside theaters have swooned for its star, Lady Gaga. Words like “glorious,” “rapturous” and, of course, “gaga” are running rampant.

 

“Having been on the other side of it, when you do something that doesn’t do well, people tend to avoid you,” Cooper said in an interview alongside his co-star. “I don’t see people, like, going the other way as I’m walking down the street.”

Quite the contrary. Since making landfall at the Toronto International Film Festival, “A Star Is Born” has provoked the kind of mania rarely seen in even the feverish realm of a film festival. It’s been hailed as “a transcendent Hollywood movie” (per Variety) and “damned near perfect” (per Rolling Stone).

 

And it has predictably flown to the top of Oscar prediction lists in just about every category, including its original songs. It’s a breakthrough for Cooper, directing for the first time, and Gaga, who’s leading a movie for the first time.

 

“I have been trying not to read any reviews. But every once in a while, my friends will read over and go (shoving phone in face): ‘You have to see this!'” says Gaga. “But I have to say truly, I feel like an audience member now. Watching the film back, it really impacts me on a deep emotional level.”

And it seems to be impacting those in the audience similarly. Even its trailer, watched by millions on YouTube, has sparked a rare eagerness. Anthony Ramos, who plays a friend of Gaga’s character in the film, said he’s been constantly harangued about details making the film.

 

“It’s lighting in a bottle, man,” said Ramos. “From the moment I stepped on set, the way Bradley works and the way Stefani works, I was like, ‘This could be crazy.’ And sure enough, here we are and people are buggin’ out.”

 

Acclaim hasn’t been universal for “A Star Is Born,” which stars Cooper as the seasoned rock star Jackson Maine and Gaga as a struggling artist he falls in love with. Its sheer popularity is certain to engender the kinds of waves of backlash that are typical of any big cultural force parading through Oscar season.

 

Warner Bros. will release the film Oct. 5 and is planning a sizable awards campaign. It’s the third remake of the original 1937 film, following the 1954 version with Judy Garland and James Mason, and the more rocking 1976 version, with Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson.

 

This remake was initially developed with Clint Eastwood directing and Beyonce potentially starring. Cooper first discussed the role with Eastwood, his “American Sniper” director, before ultimately taking the directing reins himself. In a gesture of encouragement, Eastwood visited the set the first day of shooting.

For Lady Gaga, the experience was transformational. She dyed her hair her natural color. She and Cooper performed songs live.

 

“There can be a 100 people in the room and 99 don’t believe in you, and just one does. And it can change everything,” Gaga said at the press conference. “I wouldn’t be here if Bradley didn’t believe me. My dad, and also Bradley.”

 

“I wanted to give everything that I had, every last drop of blood, all my fear, all my shame, all my love, all my kindness,” she added. “I wanted to give it to him.”
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Larry Probst will step down as chairman of the U.S. Olympic Committee, exiting with a complicated legacy that includes restoring the federation’s international reputation while leaving it saddled with as many problems on the home front as he faced when he arrived.

Probst, who announced his departure Monday, will step down at the end of the year, to be replaced by Susanne Lyons, a board member who recently finished serving as interim CEO following the resignation of Scott Blackmun in February.

Lyons and new CEO Sarah Hirshland are tasked with restoring credibility to a federation that has been widely criticized for its slow response to a mushrooming sex-abuse scandal in Olympic sports.

 

“I became chairman at a difficult time for the USOC and worked diligently with my colleagues here in the U.S., and around the world, to change the USOC for the better,” Probst said. “It’s now time for a new generation of leaders to confront the challenges facing the organization, and I have the utmost confidence in Susanne’s and Sarah’s ability to do just that.”

 

The 68-year-old Probst, a longtime executive at video-game behemoth Electronic Arts, spent hundreds of days overseas during his 10 years at the helm, helping repair badly fractured international relationships that stemmed from decades’ worth of financial disagreements with the IOC, to say nothing of the sometimes-curt style of his better-known predecessor, Peter Ueberroth.

 

Probst’s work helped bring the 2028 Olympics to Los Angeles, giving America a win after a number of embarrassments, including Chicago’s bid for the 2016 Games, and the mistaken, and ultimately aborted, choice of Boston as a candidate for 2024; both debacles came on Probst’s watch.

 

Probst also earned a highly coveted spot on the International Olympic Committee — a position that gave him insider status in the decision-making process. But critics said he didn’t use the position to advocate for U.S. athletes, especially on matters concerning Russian doping, where he rarely broke ranks with IOC president Thomas Bach, who supported Russia’s return to the Olympic fold despite solid evidence of wrongdoing.

 

In the United States, doping has been overshadowed of late by the sex-abuse scandal.

 

The USOC has gotten some credit for creating the U.S. Center for SafeSport to serve as a clearinghouse for all Olympic-related sex-abuse cases. But it has been criticized — and sued — for not acting quickly enough, or taking its share of responsibility. That played a part in Blackmun’s departure, and it’s no surprise to see Probst, whose greatest successes came with Blackmun at his side, follow him out shortly after.

 

Blackmun helped stabilize the federation after Probst and his board surprisingly dismissed CEO Jim Scherr following a successful 2008 Olympics and replaced him with Stephanie Streeter, whose short tenure was a complete failure. Many viewed Scherr’s firing as a self-inflicted mistake, and Probst was forced to spend a large part of his tenure rebuilding trust on both the domestic and international levels.

 

Among his successes were establishing a charitable foundation that raises multiple millions for Olympic athletes, the settling of a controversial revenue-sharing agreement with the IOC, and improving an already healthy financial situation under the tenure of Chief Marketing Officer Lisa Baird. (Baird left the Olympic movement last month.)

 

The U.S. also stayed atop the medals table in the Summer Games, and had largely successful Winter Olympics under Probst’s watch, though the U.S. team’s total of 23 in Pyeongchang earlier this year — its lowest haul in 20 years — raised some eyebrows.

 

That disappointing showing came as the Larry Nassar scandal was turning into front-page news, and one of the most-repeated critiques of the USOC was that its leaders cared about medals more than the people who won them.

The delicate task for Lyons and Hirshland will be to make sure the USOC keeps winning, while also changing the culture in their own organization, as well as in the various sports that make up the Olympics.

 

“I wish Susanne and Sarah the best of luck in handling the very complex and difficult scenario they find themselves in,” Scherr said.
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A new Indian movie about human trafficking starring Freida Pinto and Demi Moore is to be screened in towns and villages around the country to raise awareness of a crime that affects millions.

“Love Sonia,” which traces the journey of a young girl trafficked from rural India into the global sex trade, hits cinemas in the country this week after screenings on the international festival circuit.

Director Tabrez Noorani said he wanted to champion “hope and courage” and raise awareness of trafficking around the world.

“I want to show that the crime of trafficking is not restricted to, say, India or China. It’s a global problem,” Noorani told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by phone.

“Everyone has to be aware … that it’s happening in their backyard,” he said.

India is home to at least 8 million slaves, according to the latest figures from the Australian-based Walk Free Foundation. 

Government figures show the country recorded more than 8,000 human trafficking cases in 2016, 20 percent higher than the previous year, although rights activists say many cases go unreported.

Many victims are from rural areas and are often lured with promises of jobs in cities. Instead they are forced to work in brick kilns or farms, enslaved in homes as domestic workers, or sold to brothels.

The founder of anti-trafficking charity Shakti Vahini said movies were an effective way to raise awareness in rural areas — particularly if they featured major stars.

“We go out and do a lot of lectures. But when they see it in a movie, they see the danger as more real,” said Ravi Kant.Other films to have been used in this way include “Mardaani,” a 2014 film i

n which a woman police officer takes on a child trafficker.

“Mardaani” director Pradeep Sarkar said it was important to show traffickers were “regular, normal people living next door.”

“Love Sonia” is the directorial debut of Noorani, a veteran producer whose credits include “Slumdog Millionaire” and “Life of Pi”, and stars the acclaimed Indian actor Rajkummar Rao alongside Moore and Pinto.

Noorani said he wanted to make an “authentic film” on an issue he has worked on for many years as a board member of the Los Angeles-based Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking.

“The film heroes hope and courage,” Noorani said. “Education is the best way to fight human trafficking. People will hopefully walk out of theatres eyes wide open.”
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The first woman to win the Miss America crown without having to don a swimsuit says she’s glad she didn’t have to.

Nia Imani Franklin, who won the title Sunday night in Atlantic City while competing as Miss New York, said the changes in the 98-year-old are a welcome modernization.

Meeting reporters soon after winning the crown, Franklin said she’s glad there was no swimsuit competition because it enabled her to eat a little more.

“These changes, I think, will be great for our organization,” she said. “I’ve already seen so many young women reaching out to me personally as Miss New York asking how they can get involved because I think they feel more empowered that they don’t have to do things such as walk in a swimsuit for a scholarship.”

“And I’m happy that I didn’t have to do so to win this title tonight because I’m more than just that,” Franklin said. “And all these women onstage are more than just that.”

Her victory Sunday night resurrected a string of successes the Empire State has had in the pageant in recent years. Mallory Hagan, Nina Davuluri and Kira Kazantsev won the title from 2013 to 2015 competing as Miss New York.

A classical vocalist whose pageant platform is “advocating for the arts,” Franklin sang an operatic selection from the opera La Boheme on Sunday night.

She wrote her first song at age 5. It went “Love, love, love, love, is the only thing that matters to me, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey.” At the prompting of an Associated Press reporter, she sang the song at her post-victory press conference as audience members snapped their fingers.

Franklin won a $50,000 scholarship along with the crown in the first Miss America pageant to be held without a swimsuit competition.

She said during her onstage interview that she was one of only a small number of minority students in school growing up, but used her love for music and the arts to grow and fit in.

The fourth runner up was Miss Massachusetts Gabriela Taveras; third runner up was Miss Florida Taylor Tyson; second runner up was Miss Louisiana Holli’ Conway, and the first runner up was Miss Connecticut Bridget Oei.

The judges narrowed the field of 51 candidates during the pageant Sunday night from Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall.

The decision to drop the swimsuit competition created a good deal of controversy and criticism of current Miss America leadership. Minutes before the nationally televised broadcast began, a comedian warming up the crowd mentioned that there would be no swimsuit competition this year, and was met with loud boos in the hall.

The swimsuits were replaced by onstage interviews, which have generated attention-grabbing remarks from contestants regarding President Trump, and NFL player protests, among other topics. 

Behind the scenes, a revolt is underway among most of the Miss America state organizations who demand that national chairwoman Gretchen Carlson and CEO Regina Hopper resign. 

The former Miss America, Cara Mund, says the two have bullied and silenced her, claims that the women deny. 

Upon taking over at the helm of the Miss America Organization last winter following an email scandal in which former top leaders denigrated the appearance, intellect and sex lives of former Miss Americas, Carlson and Hopper set out to transform the organization, dubbing it “Miss America 2.0.” 

Unhappy with how the swimsuit decision was reached, as well as with other aspects of Carlson and Hopper’s performance, 46 of the 51 state pageant organizations (the District of Columbia is included) have called on the two to resign. 

Mund only appeared at the very end of the pageant before the next winner was crowned. She was not allowed to speak live; instead a 30-second taped segment of her speaking was broadcast. 
…

The U.S. Open final suddenly appeared to be slipping away from Novak Djokovic. He dropped three consecutive games. He was angered by a crowd roaring for his popular opponent, Juan Martin del Potro. He was, in short, out of sorts.

And then came Sunday’s pivotal game, a 20-minute, 22-point epic. Three times, del Potro was a point from breaking and earning the right to serve to make it a set apiece. Three times, Djokovic steeled himself. Eventually, he seized that game — and del Potro’s best chance to make a match of it.

A year after missing the U.S. Open because of an injured right elbow that would require surgery, Djokovic showed that he is unquestionably back at his best and back at the top of tennis. His returns and defense-to-offense skills as impeccable as ever, Djokovic collected his 14th Grand Slam title and second in a row by getting through every crucial moment for a 6-3, 7-6 (4), 6-3 victory over 2009 champion del Potro at Flushing Meadows.

Djokovic was better than del Potro on their many lengthy exchanges, using his trademark body-twisting, limb-splaying court coverage to get to nearly every ball, sneakers squeaking around the blue court in Arthur Ashe Stadium, where the roof was closed because of rain.

This was Djokovic’s third championship in New York, along with those in 2011 and 2015. Add in the trophies he has earned at six Australian Opens, one French Open and four Wimbledons, most recently in July, and the 31-year-old Serb pulled even with Pete Sampras for the third-most majors among men, trailing only Roger Federer’s 20 and Rafael Nadal’s 17.

Federer lost in the fourth round in New York, while Nadal retired from his semifinal against del Potro because of a bad right knee. That put the 29-year-old Argentine back in a Grand Slam final for the first time since his breakthrough nine years ago, a comeback for a guy who had four wrist operations in the interim.

Del Potro spoke this week about the low point, in 2015, when he considered quitting the sport. But supported by a dozen or so friends from back home, whose “Ole!” choruses rang around the arena, he climbed up the rankings to a career-high No. 3 by thundering his 100 mph (160 kph) forehands and 135 mph (215 kph) serves.

Those produce free points against so many foes. Not against Djokovic, who always seemed to have all the answers.

Never was that more apparent than the game that stood out on this evening: with Djokovic serving while down 4-3 in the second set. They went back and forth, through eight deuces and all those break opportunities for del Potro, until he slapped one forehand into the net, and another sailed wide.

The game went so long that when it ended, with Djokovic holding to 4-all, spectators began leaving their seats, perhaps thinking it was time for a changeover, even though it wasn’t. That prompted to chair umpire Alison Hughes to chastise them.

It was a brief request, though, unlike her many other pleas for quiet, mainly as fans were shouting and chanting and clapping in support of del Potro. It all bothered Djokovic, who started yelling and gesturing toward the seats. At one moment, he pressed his right index finger to his lips, as if to say, “Shhhhhhh!” Later, after winning a point, Djokovic put that finger to his ear, as if to say, “Who are you cheering for now?!”

When it ended, thanks to a three-game closing run by Djokovic, he flung his racket away and landed on his back, arms and legs spread wide. Moments later, del Potro was in his sideline seat, crying.
…

The 2018 football season quietly kicked off across the U.S. Sunday without the widespread player protests over alleged police brutality against African-Americans.

Only two players  both on the Miami Dolphins  protested police violence by kneeling during the national anthem.

Another Dolphins player raised his fist in defiance while a member of the San Francisco 49rs did the same. Two players with the Jacksonville Jaguars chose to stay in the locker room.

A number of players knelt or held their fists in the air throughout last season, prompting President Donald Trump to demand team owners fire players who, in his words, “disrespect our flag.”

The players say the protests had nothing to do with the flag. They said they wanted to draw attention to what they say is the large number of young black males shot, beaten, arrested, or harassed by police, sometimes minor infractions or even when they hadn’t committed a crime.

In a tweet, Trump said the low television ratings of an early-season Thursday game last week was because of the protests.

NFL owners attempted to set a policy requiring players to stand for the anthem or stay off the field. But they dropped the rule after the players union objected.

Former San Francisco player Colin Kaepernick, who began the protests in 2016, is suing the NFL for alleged collusion. He claims owners have conspired to keep him off all the teams.

Kaepernick is now the subject of a new advertising campaign by sports clothing company Nike, whose slogan is “Just Do It.” The ads feature a picture of Kaepernick with a caption reading “Believe in something. Even if it costs you everything.”

Nike reports a large jump in sales since it started running the ads.
…

The U.S. Tennis Association fined 2018 U.S. Open runner-up Serena Williams $17,000 Sunday for violations during the women’s final the day before.

Williams will pay for three violations made during the extremely controversial match with 20-year-old Naomi Osaka, who claimed her first grand slam title.

Williams’ first violation for allegedly receiving coaching during a game cost her a warning and $3,000. A second violation, slamming her racket and breaking it, led to a point penalty and a fine of $4,000. The third violation, what umpire Carlos Ramos called verbal abuse when Williams’ called him a “thief” for the point penalty, resulted in her losing a game to penalty and an additional fine of $10,000.

The penalties drew criticism from fans of Williams and many in the tennis world, where a game penalty is extremely rare.

“When a woman is emotional, she’s “hysterical” and she’s penalized for it. When a man does the same, he’s “outspoken” & and there are no repercussions,” Billie Jean King, former World No. 1 professional tennis player and a long-time advocate of women athlete’s rights and equality wrote on Twitter Saturday. “Thank you, @serenawilliams, for calling out this double standard. More voices are needed to do the same.”

​

With her 6-2, 6-4 victory Sunday, Osaka won Japan’s first tennis Grand Slam title.

Williams’ defeat cost her tying for Margaret Court’s record of 24 major titles.
…

The swimsuits are gone, but there has been plenty of controversy surrounding this year’s Miss America competition that could keep viewers tuning in.

       The next Miss America will be crowned around 11 p.m. Sunday on a nationally televised broadcast on ABC from Atlantic City.

 

       This year marks the first time the broadcast will not include a swimsuit competition.

 

       It has been replaced by onstage interviews, which have generated attention-grabbing remarks from contestants regarding President Trump, and NFL player protests, among other topics.

 

       And behind the scenes, a revolt is underway among most of the Miss America state organizations who demand that national chairwoman Gretchen Carlson and CEO Regina Hopper resign.

 

       The outgoing Miss America, Cara Mund, says the two have bullied and silenced her, claims that the women deny.

 

       Through it all, the 51 young women vying for the crown and a $50,000 scholarship have tried to remain focused.

 

       “I am just having the time of my life,” said Miss Massachusetts Gabriela Taveras, who won Friday’s onstage interview preliminary with comments on how Americans traveling abroad should let people from other nation’s know that America supports and wants to help them. “I don’t know what will happen; I just really shared myself as much as I could.”

 

       The 98th Miss America competition will be held at Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall in the city where it started nearly a century ago as a bathing beauty contest designed to extend the summer tourism season for another week after Labor Day.

 

       Upon taking over at the helm of the Miss America Organization last winter following an email scandal in which former top leaders denigrated the appearance, intellect and sex lives of former Miss Americas, Carlson and Hopper set out to transform the organization, dubbing it “Miss America 2.0.”

 

       The most consequential decision was to drop the swimsuit competition and give the candidates more time to talk onstage about themselves, their platforms and how they would do the job of Miss America. Supporters welcomed it as a long-overdue attempt to make Miss America more relevant to contemporary society, while others mourn the loss of what they consider an integral part of what made Miss America an enduring part of Americana.

 

       Unhappy with how the decision was reached, as well as with other aspects of Carlson and Hopper’s performance, 46 of the 51 state pageant organizations (the District of Columbia is included) have called on the two to resign.

 

       Adding to the intrigue was a remarkable letter released by Mund, the outgoing Miss America, who said Carlson and Hopper had bullied, silenced and marginalized her. They deny doing any of that, saying they have been working tirelessly to move the organization into the future. It remains unknown if Carlson will speak or appear during the broadcast finale.

 

       Onstage interview comments have raised some eyebrows during three nights of non-televised preliminary competition. On Friday, Miss West Virginia Madeline Collins was asked what she feels is the most serious issue facing the nation.

 

       She replied, “Donald Trump is the biggest issue our country faces. Unfortunately he has caused a lot of division in our country.”

 

       A day earlier, Miss Virginia Emili McPhail was asked what advice she would give to NFL players about whether to stand or kneel for the national anthem.

 

       She said not standing during the anthem “is a right you have. But it’s also not about kneeling; it is absolutely about police brutality.”

 

       Wednesday night’s preliminary winners were Miss Florida Taylor Tyson for talent, and Miss Wisconsin Tianna Vanderhei for onstage interview. Thursday night, McPhail won the interview preliminary and Miss Louisiana Holli’ Conway won for talent. Friday, Taveras won for onstage interview and Miss Indiana Lydia Tremaine won for talent. 
…

Tiffany Haddish led an African-American sweep of Emmy Awards for TV series guest actors, a milestone in the entertainment industry’s effort to reflect a diverse society.

 

       Haddish was honored at Saturday’s creative arts Emmys for hosting “Saturday Night Live,” while Katt Williams won the guest comedy actor award for “Atlanta.”

 

       Ron Cephas Jones of “This Is Us” and Samira Wiley of “The Handmaid’s Tale” accepted guest acting honors in the drama series categories.

 

       Cephas, who plays a father who reconnects with his son (series star Sterling K. Brown) after a difficult life of drug addiction and loss, was asked backstage if his character would have been on TV in the past.

 

       “No. Not in this incarnation. … Not that the audience wasn’t ready for it. But maybe the executives, or people that have a say in the writing, probably wouldn’t have been ready for this kind of thing. But now we are. We’re moving forward and moving ahead.”

 

       In another step forward Saturday, Shauna Duggins became the first woman to win an Emmy for stunt coordination for a comedy or variety series for “GLOW,” about women’s wrestling in the 1980s.

 

       The creative arts Emmys set the table for NBC’s Sept. 17 main ceremony, which could also advance inclusivity on-screen and off. Donald Glover, the star and creator of “Atlanta,” won trophies last year for acting and directing and is a multiple nominee again, with his show a top contender for best comedy.

 

       Tracee Ellis Ross of “black-ish” and Issa Rae of “Insecure” are competing for comedy series acting honors. On the drama side, Brown could repeat as best actor for “This Is Us,” while “Killing Eve” star Sandra Oh could become the first actress of Asian descent to win the top award.

 

       Haddish, a hot property since her breakout performance in the movie “Girls Trip,” has been an Oscar presenter and MTV Movie & TV Awards host. She co-stars in the sitcom “The Last O.G.”

 

       She was a no-show at the Emmys, but presenter Tichina Arnold had fun accepting for her.

 

       “Tiffany couldn’t be here tonight. But, guess what, Tiffany! I’ve got your award, girl!” Arnold said, holding up the statuette triumphantly.

 

       “I think you’re going to have to give that back,” presenter Gerald McRaney (“This Is Us”) teased her.

 

       The “Star Trek” television franchise received the Governors Award. William Shatner, star of the original 1960s series, and Sonequa Martin-Green of 2018’s “Star Trek: Discovery” accepted the award, along with other actors with “Star Trek” credentials including Walter Koenig, Jeri Ryan and Levar Burton.

 

       `’Star Trek’ has endured because it represents an ideal that is greater than the sum of our parts,” Shatner said. “The hope of `Star Trek’ is not just that it shows us what we can be tomorrow. But the real hope is how it’s been embraced and watched and reached to see the best version of ourselves.”

 

       An edited version of the two-part creative arts ceremony, held Saturday and Sunday, will be telecast on FXX at 8 p.m. EDT Saturday, Sept. 15.

 

       Among other awards presented Saturday:

       * Character voice-over performance: Alex Borstein, “Family Guy.”

 

       * Animated program: “Rick and Morty.”

 

       * Short-form animated program: “Robot Chicken.”

 

       * Short-form comedy or drama series: “James Corden’s Next James Corden.”

 

       * Actor in a short-form comedy or drama series: James Corden.

 

       * Actress in a short-form comedy or drama series: Christina Pickles, “Break A Hip.”

 

       * Television movie: “USS Callister (Black Mirror).”

 

       * Commercial: “The  Talk,” P&G.

 

       * Music composition for a series (original dramatic score): Ramin Djawadi, “Game of Thrones: The Dragon and the Wolf.”

 

       * Music composition for a limited series, movie or special (original dramatic score): Cyrille Aufort, “March Of The Penguins 2: The Next Step.”
…

Naomi Osaka became Japan’s first Grand Slam singles champion after she thumped Serena Williams 6-2 6-4 in a controversial U.S. Open final on Saturday, with the American suffering a mesmerizing meltdown after being handed a code violation.

It was drama-filled conclusion to a final that was rich with story lines but will now go down as one of the most controversial Grand Slam finals of all time.

There was much riding on the match for both women, with Osaka bidding to become the first man or woman from Japan to win a Grand Slam singles title and Williams poised to equal Margaret Court’s record of 24 major titles.

In the end it was Osaka making history, but on a day of bizarre events her victory will be a only footnote to what is sure to go down as one of the most infamous matches ever played at Flushing Meadows.

The chaotic finish filled with screaming, tears and jeers cast a cloud over what should have been Osaka’s shining moment.

Standing on the podium, waiting to be handed her trophy and a winner’s check for $3.8 million, Osaka heard only boos as an angry crowd took out their frustration on Portuguese chair umpire Carlos Ramos, who stood to the side.

“I know everyone was cheering for her and I’m sorry it had to end like this,” said Osaka. “It was always my dream to play Serena in the U.S. Open finals. … I’m really grateful I was able to play with you.”

Coach’s signals

With Osaka in control of the match after taking the first set, Ramos sent Williams into a rage when he handed the 23-time Grand Slam champion a code violation in the second game of the second set after he spotted the American’s coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, making some hand signals from the player’s box.

A string of bad behavior followed from Williams and she went on to incur a point penalty for smashing her racket before being slapped with a game penalty after she launched into a verbal attack against Ramos, accusing him of being “a liar” and “a thief for stealing a point from me.”

The game penalty put Osaka 5-3 up and the 20-year-old Japanese kept her cool to pull off the win.

Mouratoglou later admitted he had been coaching, but in another strange twist an unrepentant Williams continued to deny she had received any advice and was instead a victim of sexism.

“He [Ramos] alleged that I was cheating, and I wasn’t cheating,” said Williams. “I’ve seen other men call other umpires several things.

“I’m here fighting for women’s rights and for women’s equality and for all kinds of stuff.

“For me to say ‘thief’ and for him to take a game, it made me feel like it was a sexist remark.”

Almost lost in the chaos was a fearless and cool display from Osaka.

Before Williams’ meltdown, Osaka had already put the 36-year-old under rarely seen pressure.

Osaka had given Williams plenty of respect but no other concessions as she grabbed the early break on a double fault by her idol for a 2-1 first set lead she would not let go.

Playing on tennis’ biggest stage in her first Grand Slam final, the significance of the moment did not faze Osaka, while Williams, contesting her 31st major final, looked unsteady.

Previous incident

Williams’ implosion was not a totally unfamiliar sight for tennis fans, who watched a similar meltdown nine years earlier at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Playing the semifinals against Kim Clijsters, Williams flew into a rage after a line judge called her for a foot fault, leaving a match point down to the Belgian.

Williams launched into an expletive-laced rant at the official. She waved her racket in the lineswoman’s direction and then shook a ball in her clenched fist as she threatened to “shove it down” her throat.

Organizers fined her $10,500 at the end of the tournament for her unsportsmanlike behavior, and she was later fined an additional $175,000 and put on probation for two years by the Grand Slam Committee.

Williams could face further sanctions for her actions on Saturday against Osaka; the Women’s Tennis Association said in a statement that it would be looking into the incident.

“There are matters that need to be looked into that took place during the match,” said the WTA. “For tonight, it is time to celebrate these two amazing players, both of whom have great integrity.”
…

Oscar-winning director Alfonso Cuaron’s Roma won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival on Saturday, bringing Netflix its first major festival victory to seal the online streaming company’s reputation as a big name in arthouse movies.

Roma, named after the neighborhood in Mexico City where writer-director-cinematographer Cuaron grew up, is a Spanish-language drama that critics almost unanimously described as “shimmering” because of its luscious black-and-white cinematography.

At a festival where only one of the 21 films selected to compete for the Golden Lion was directed by a woman, Roma was one of several that focused almost exclusively on female characters — in this case, Cuaron’s mother and the two maids who helped bring him up.

Hollywood Reporter’s Todd McCarthy called it “an immersive bath in some of the most luxuriantly beautiful black-and-white images you’ve ever seen” and a huge change from the Sandra Bullock adventure Gravity which won Cuaron his Oscar in 2014.

The win is important for Netflix as it seeks to position itself as a major force in film, after it boycotted the Cannes festival in May because of French rules that ban simultaneous streaming of films shown in cinemas.

Another one of its movies, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, a comedy-western written and directed by the Coen brothers, won best screenplay.

Runner-up

The Favourite, which, like Roma has a strong female focus, won the runner-up Grand Jury Prize, and its star, Olivia Colman, received the Volpi Cup for best actress for her uproarious portrayal of England’s Queen Anne.

Willem Dafoe won the award for best actor for his portrayal of Vincent Van Gogh in the biopic At Eternity’s Gate.

Jennifer Kent, the only female director in the main competition, won the Special Jury Prize for The Nightingale, a revenge thriller set in 1825 in Australia whose male lead, Baykali Ganambarr, won for best up-and-coming actor/actress.

Dedicating the award to the indigenous people of Tasmania, whose brutal treatment by the British is explicitly played out in the film, Kent said in her acceptance speech: “The feminine force is the most powerful and healing force on the planet so I hope and I’m confident that next year, and the year after, and the year after, we’ll see more and more women inhabiting this

space.”
…

On the 30th anniversary of Nike’s ‘Just Do It’ slogan, the apparel and footwear company announced a new endorsement deal and ad starring former NFL player Colin Kaepernick. Kaepernick’s decision to kneel in protest of police brutality during the national anthem at NFL games has sparked controversy across the country, with the fallout further blurring the line between sports and politics in the United States. VOA’s Elizabeth Cherneff has more.
…

More than 30 dresses and accessories worn on stage by Aretha Franklin are going up for auction.

The Queen of Soul died at age 76 in Detroit on August 16.

Julien’s Auctions says the items include a red sequined dress Franklin wore at Radio City Music Hall in 1991, a knit jacket she appeared in with President Bill Clinton at the National Medal of Arts ceremony in 1999 and a denim jacket given to crew members of “The Blues Brothers.”

The items will go on display between November 5 and November 9 at the Hard Rock Cafe in New York.

The auction will take place in person and online on November 10 as part of a two-day Icons & Idols: Rock-N-Roll at the Hard Rock.
…

Hikers have embarked on a 500-mile (805-kilometer) expedition that will traverse New Mexico. The mission: Chart out the best route and identify what challenges might lie ahead as the state moves closer to establishing the Rio Grande Trail.

Following in the footsteps of other states, New Mexico is looking to capitalize on its vistas, mild weather and culture with the creation of a long-distance trail along one of North America’s longest rivers.

The Rio Grande stretches down the middle of the state, from the southern end of the Rocky Mountains near the Colorado state line to the bustling desert region where New Mexico and Texas intersect with the U.S.-Mexico border.

Supporters say that with its diverse scenery, the Rio Grande Trail has the potential to make the list of the country’s more famous long-distance routes, including the Appalachian Trail that runs from Georgia to Maine and the Continental Divide Trail that crosses a handful of Western states. Neighboring Colorado and Arizona have their own namesake trails and there are several others that are designed as national scenic trails.

Outdoor recreation in New Mexico alone is already a multibillion-dollar industry and the benefits of the Rio Grande Trail could be profound, said Jeff Steinborn, a New Mexico state senator who pushed legislation in 2015 to create the commission charged with establishing the trail.

“We can’t even begin to appreciate all the opportunities that it will unfold for our citizens, for economic development and for frontier communities,” he said.

Appalachian study

In the East, more than 3 million people visit some part of the Appalachian Trail annually. The trail’s advocacy group is working on a study to better determine the spending that results from those visits and the branding campaigns that go along with such long-distance trail systems.

Jordan Bowman, a spokesman for the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, said it’s all tied to the draw of experiencing the American backcountry.

“It’s whatever adventure you want to make out of it,” he said. “So people can find a nice smooth section if they just need to get out for an afternoon or it can be a monthslong adventure where you walk out with a beard and this incredible story of how you survived a blizzard or whatever the case may be.”

In New Mexico, the Rio Grande Trail Commission last week approved an official logo, and a master plan is in the works.

While the official alignment has yet to be decided, this month’s expedition by volunteers with the Southern New Mexico Trail Alliance is aimed at scouting proposed segments and gathering as much data about water sources, camping spots, supply stops and not-to-be-missed scenery that could be incorporated.

“A lot of those little details we can’t pick up until we’re actually there on the ground walking it,” said Peter Livingstone with the alliance.

He has traveled more than 120 miles (190 kilometers) in five days. He expects the whole trip to take about a month.

A small solar panel sits on the top of his backpack, charging a collection of GPS and satellite communication devices that are tracking the journey.

Just in case

“I have a map and compass if all that fancy stuff fails,” Livingstone said.

The expedition so far has taken him along the volcanic ridge that makes up the Rio Grande Gorge near Taos. To the west, there are numerous homes dubbed earthships built out of recycled materials. Wheeler Peak — the highest in New Mexico — is visible to the east.

Livingstone also talked about petroglyphs, adobe churches, driving rain, hail and being greeted by locals with beans, rice and tacos.

“Life is a wonderful adventure, or it is nothing,” he said in a recent post.

The trek will end near Mount Cristo Rey, where the faithful make a religious pilgrimage each year. Steinborn plans to join the hikers there.

Close to 50 miles (80 kilometers) or more of trail already have been designated and there are another 100 miles (160 kilometers) or so being planned with the federal government and conservancy districts in the Middle Rio Grande, Steinborn said.

“There’s work to be done, but what an incredible start. It’s coming to life in front of our eyes,” he said. 
…

Actor Burt Reynolds, the charismatic star whose career lasted for more than half a century, died Thursday at 82.

His agent announced the actor’s death in Jupiter, Florida, but did not give a cause.

The rugged, mustached, handsome Reynolds was an icon of 1970s America and its fixation on Hollywood celebrities.

Michigan-born Reynolds was a college football star in Florida and appeared headed for a professional sports career before he was injured in a car crash.

He worked in a number of jobs before turning to acting in Florida and New York, and eventually to Hollywood and numerous television roles.

His big break came in 1972 when he was cast in the hit movie Deliverance, about a canoe trip turned violent.

The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture, and Reynolds’ performance was widely praised.

His decision to pose nude for Cosmopolitan magazine turned him into a TV personality and fodder for jokes. 

Reynolds said he posed nude as a gag, but later called it a mistake because he said it distracted from his ambitions to be a respected actor.

He continued to star in dozens of films throughout the 1970s, such as Cannonball Run and the Smokey and the Bandit series.

He also made tabloid headlines with his marriages, divorces and affairs with actresses Judy Carne, Sally Field and Loni Anderson, and singer Dinah Shore, who was 20 years his senior.

Reynolds’ career fizzled in the 1980s, but he made a comeback in 1991 when he won an Emmy award for the television comedy Evening Shade. In 1998, he was a nominee for Best Supporting Actor for the movie Boogie Nights.
…

Britain’s Burberry will no longer burn unsold luxury goods to protect its brand after an admission that it destroyed almost $40 million worth of stock last year sparked a furor over waste in the fashion industry.

Burberry also said on Thursday it would no longer use real fur such as mink and racoon, in another step towards improving its social and environmental credentials which was immediately welcomed by animal rights campaigners.

The waste revelation in July from Burberry came only months after the owner of Cartier and Montblanc admitted to destroying some of their unsold watches and coincides with growing public awareness of waste and its environmental impact.

“Modern luxury means being socially and environmentally responsible,” said CEO Marco Gobbetti, who is taking Burberry more upmarket. Its coats sell for more than 2,500 pounds ($3,234) and handbags are priced at up to 1,500 pounds.

Many retailers have been called out in recent years for destroying unsold stock, including by slashing or punching holes in garments before throwing them out.

Richemont, owner of luxury watch brands, said it bought back unsold stock from dealers during a recent downturn and recycled the precious metals and stones that were in the high-end pieces.

Burberry physically destroyed 28.6 million pounds worth of finished goods in the financial year to April, up from 26.9 million pounds the previous year, including 10 million pounds worth of beauty products such as perfume.

The products are generally those that did not sell via discount outlets and are more than five years old. Burberry said it would try to reuse, repair, donate or recycle its products while a strategy to make fewer, more targeted collections should help reduce excess stock.

It is also working with the sustainable luxury company Elvis & Kresse to transform 120 tonnes of leather offcuts into new products over the next five years.

Growing awareness

Exane BNP Paribas analyst Luca Solca said Burberry’s announcement could put pressure on other luxury names to be more transparent about how they handle unsold goods.

“Concerns about sustainability are slowly but surely becoming more relevant for luxury goods consumers,” he said. Some luxury groups offer sales to employees and journalists to limit unsold stock. Both Kering, owner of Gucci and Alexander McQueen, and LVMH, owner of Louis Vuitton, Celine, Christian Dior and Givenchy, declined to comment.

Chanel said it did everything it could to avoid destroying stock, including selling items from previous collections to employees and partners, and starting production on goods once it has received orders from buyers.

The issue of excess stock is, in volume terms, a much bigger problem in the mass market, where retailers and consumers churn rapidly through different styles.

Greenpeace says 73 percent of textile fibers used to produce more than 100 billion garments each year end up in landfill or incinerators after they have been used.

H&M, the world’s second-biggest fashion retailer after Inditex, has said in the past it burns stock, but only when it is damaged or, for example, has high levels of chemicals in it. At the end of May the Swedish group had $4 billon of unsold stock that it said it hoped to sell.

“Under no circumstances do we destroy clothes that are safe to use,” a spokeswoman said. Britain’s Primark said unsold products and samples were donated to charity.

Burberry is following the likes of Versace, Gucci and the trailblazer for ethical fashion, Stella McCartney, in removing real fur from its ranges.

The moves are part of a series of changes at Burberry where Gobbetti is pinning his hopes on new designer Riccardo Tisci to transform the quintessentially British fashion house. Former Givenchy star Tisci has previously designed costumes for Beyonce and Madonna and releases his debut collection in September.

“We are committed to applying the same creativity to all parts of Burberry as we do to our products,” Gobbetti said. PETA, the campaign group for the ethical treatment of animals, welcomed Burberry’s move to stop using fur, which it said was a sign of the times.

“The few fashion houses refusing to modernize and listen to the overwhelming public opinion against fur are now sticking out like a sore thumb for all the wrong reasons,” PETA’s director of international programs, Mimi Bekhechi said.

Campaign group Humane Society International said animal charities would unite during this year’s major fashion shows to call on Italian brand Prada to follow Burberry’s lead.

The head of the International Fur Federation, Mark Oaten, said substituting natural fur with “plastic petroleum-based materials, like fake fur” was neither luxury nor responsible.

($1 = 0.7736 pounds)
…

New York Fashion Week has opened its glamorous tent wider to feature models with disabilities wearing adaptive clothing designs by Tommy Hilfiger, Nike and Target.

Organized by the Runway of Dreams Foundation, the show on Wednesday included a catwalk welcoming to wheelchairs, crutches, walking canes and more. Actor and model RJ Mitte of “Breaking Bad” was host.

Mitte said he understood the importance of inclusion on a personal level, having been diagnosed with cerebral palsy at age 3. “I’m really excited to see all this inclusivity and all of these strides to be diverse,” he said.

The founder of Runway of Dreams, Mindy Scheier, was inspired to start her foundation when her son, Oliver, who has muscular dystrophy, told her he wanted to wear clothes like everyone else. His request was for blue jeans — a clothing item that would prove difficult to pull on and off with his condition unless the pants were modified. She decided to make him an adaptive pair on her own and realized the need for more adaptive clothing lines for individuals with disabilities.

“Fashion is a direct correlation to how we feel about ourselves, our confidence, our self-esteem,” said Scheier. “And if you don’t have that, if you don’t have options, it can really affect how you feel about yourself. So truly, clothing is a basic need. So, shouldn’t we all feel really good and have options like everybody else?”

Model Mama Cax, recently featured on the cover of Teen Vogue’s September issue for “The New Faces of Fashion,” lost her leg during a battle with cancer. She is now an advocate for inclusion in the fashion industry and walked the runway Wednesday.

She said she wanted to see people with disabilities cast in movies and TV in lead roles or as love interests but without any “inspiration piece attached to it,” adding: “We want to see them in a normal role, average role, like we do in our everyday lives.”

Jason Redman never expected to find himself at a fashion show. Redman was a U.S. Navy SEAL who suffered injury to his face and body when he was struck by machine gun fire during a special operative mission in Iraq. He received the Inspirational Achievement Award for the clothing company he founded, Wounded Wear.

“People underestimate the power of clothing, the power of wanting to feel good and look like everybody else around us. And that’s what this organization does. So to be here, to be an awardee, to be a part of it, it’s pretty awesome.”
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Egypt’s Antiquities Ministry says a preliminary report shows that the fire that engulfed Brazil’s National Museum destroyed all of its artifacts including those in the pharaonic hall, which contained 700 pieces.

 

Thursday’s statement says Egypt’s diplomatic missions in Brazil are communicating with the museum’s Egyptology department head to know the precise damages to Egyptian holdings.

 

Mostafa Waziri, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, says the pieces were largely bought by Brazil’s emperor, Dom Pedro I, from antiquities traders in the 19th century.

 

He says they include five mummies, one of which was offered in its original coffin to Dom Pedro II by Egyptian Viceroy Ismail Pasha during a visit to the Middle East.

 

Flames tore through the 200-year-old museum, which contained some 20 million items, on Sunday.
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