Author: Ohart

The World Cup in Russia is the most expensive ever – with the official price tag around $15 billion. The result: several huge new stadiums, railroads and upgraded airports, plus the chance to reboot Russia’s global image. So, will the tournament represent a good value for Russians? As Henry Ridgwell reports from Moscow, the government appears to have used the World Cup to bury some bad economic news.
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The dinosaurs of “Jurassic Park” are many things. They are special-effects wonders. They are unruly house guests. And they are some of the biggest, most foot-stomping metaphors around. 

Since Steven Spielberg’s 1993 original, the dinos of “Jurassic Park” — many of them not light on their feet to be begin with — have been weighed down with meanings that sometimes shift movie to movie. If they look a touch tired in the latest “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom,” it could be from all the allegorical baggage they’ve been carrying. 

Twenty-five years ago, the dinosaurs — wondrous and horrifying creations at once — stood for the magical but fearsome power of genetic engineering. In 2015’s “Jurassic World,” they were focus group-approved theme park attractions that doubled for Hollywood blockbusters themselves. 

Now, in “Fallen Kingdom,” the scaly ones — again threatened with extinction — are pursued by poachers and others who wish to capture and capitalize on an endangered if dangerous species. The theme appealed to Colin Trevorrow, the director of 2015’s “Jurassic World,” now serving as co-writer with Derek Connolly, and as executive producer, alongside Steven Spielberg.

“We have a relationship with animals on this planet that is tenuous and is strained. They suffer from abuse and trafficking and the consequences of our environmental choices,” said Trevorrow. “To find a way to build essentially a children’s franchise about how we have a responsibility to the creatures that we share the planet with felt like a worthwhile thing to do.”

If the previous “Jurassic World” was fashioned as a meta-blockbuster, it made good on its intent. “Jurassic World” blew away expectations, setting a new opening-weekend record and stomping its way to nearly $1.7 billion worldwide. “Fallen Kingdom,” with J.A. Bayona taking over as director, has already taken in $370 million overseas (including $112 million in China) before opening in North America on Thursday night. 

That takes some of the pressure off “Fallen Kingdom,” which was made for about $170 million by Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment. But expectations remain high for a 25-year-old franchise that has grossed $4 billion in ticket sales. And the animal-rights gambit of “Fallen Kingdom” — in which the dinosaurs leave the island in cages — has found a mixed critical reaction. Variety called it “a liberal pulp message movie” and “the first cautionary dinosaur-trafficking movie.” 

“We looked at real animal trafficking in the world and what that process is,” says Trevorrow, who’s writing and directing the third “Jurassic World” film. “First there’s capture and then there’s going to be an auction of some kind, a sale. We were following something that felt grounded in the reality that we know. It’s a rule that we have that we don’t want the dinosaurs to do anything that real animals wouldn’t or couldn’t do.”

The action takes place three years after the melee of “Jurassic World.” A soon-to-erupt volcano on Isla Nublar has sparked public debate, complete with Congressional hearings: Should the dinosaurs be saved? An aid to John Hammond, the Jurassic Park founder, has convinced Dallas Bryce Howard’s Claire Dearing (now a dino-rights activist) and Chris Pratt’s former raptor wrangler Owen Grady to help get the dinosaurs off the island.

The more cloistered second half of the tale most interested Bayona, the Spanish filmmaker known for “The Orphanage” and “A Monster Calls.” 

 “The first time Colin told me about the story, he told me that the second half was going to be a haunted house story,” says Bayona. “I thought that was going to be a lot of fun.” 

For anyone who recalls the frightful kitchen scene of “Jurassic Park,” “Fallen Kingdom” doubles down on the suspense of dinosaurs in tight, domestic quarters, while channeling the franchise’s contemplation of science into animal rights. Bayona traces the dinosaurs of “Jurassic World” to the kaiju of movies like “Godzilla.” 

“There’s one line that I love at the beginning of the film when Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) refers to nuclear power. Nuclear power is the moment when man makes a pivotal change in history,” says Bayona. “For the first time, man is over nature. That idea, which means crossing a red line, provokes monsters. The image of the atomic mushroom is very similar to the T-Rex.”

“Fallen Kingdom” also had more human issues to tackle. The high heels that Claire traipses through the jungle with in “Jurassic World” sparked criticism from many who derided the film for playing with outdated gender tropes. Trevorrow emphasized that that reaction was not worldwide. 

“All that stuff was very domestic but that didn’t make it something that didn’t deserve to be listened to,” says Trevorrow. “So we thought about it. We thought about how that imagery and iconography was affecting certain people and where those responses were coming from. And we definitely applied that when we thought about the next movie.”

Trevorrow had numerous conversations with Bayona and his producers about the issue. Now prepared for the jungle, Claire wears more appropriate footwear in “Fallen Kingdom,” though Bayona playfully re-introduces her with a shot that opens on her heels.   

“There’s some irony in the way we introduce Claire because there was such a big controversy with the heels that I just wanted to start with a shot of the heels,” says Bayona. “It was trying not to take the whole controversy too seriously.”

But the real-world connections that most motivated the filmmakers had more to do with stories like that of the northern white rhino. The last male of the species died in March , a victim of poachers seeking its horns. Debate has followed over whether a “Jurassic Park”-like revival of the rhinos should be carried out.   

“It has rendered a species extinct and it’s horrifying. And it’s our fault as mankind. We did that,” says Trevorrow. “It brings up a similar question that the movie brings up. If we did have this technology, if we could bring back the white rhinoceros, do we have a responsibility to do it? I don’t personally know the answer to that.”
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George Clooney’s Hollywood career spans more than three decades, with memorable roles including fighting vampires, playing Batman and drifting through space in “Gravity.” But Clooney’s other accomplishments, including directing, screenwriting and activism, led to him becoming the latest recipient of the American Film Institute’s Life Achievement Award.

 

Clooney, 57, was honored at a star-studded tribute gala earlier this month at the Dolby Theatre, where he has been a frequent guest because of the Academy Awards, including in 2006 when Clooney won for best supporting actor. TNT will air the tribute on Thursday at 10 p.m. Eastern and Pacific.

 

The star was all smiles during the tribute, where he was honored by stars from Jennifer Aniston to Bill Murray, along with his parents and his wife Amal. Photos of him playing his most memorable roles overlooked the stage as the celebration unfolded, and Clooney told his own story through video vignettes.

 

Here are some of the highlights of the gala:

 

The Early Years

 

During his acceptance speech, Clooney spoke about when he was new to Hollywood.

 

“When I was a young, broke unemployed actor, not only did I not have a job, I didn’t have an agent, I couldn’t get auditions,” he said. “I was lucky enough to be able to do a few short films for some up-and-coming young directors at the AFI.”

Laura Dern was the first to mention one of Clooney’s early films, “Grizzly 2,” which was never officially released. Dern and Clooney both had a short sequence in the film in which they climb a mountain and get eaten by a bear. Dern reminisced about how the two were stranded in Hungary after the film ran out of funding.

 

Clooney accrued more TV and film gigs with shows such as “ER” and “The Facts of Life” which eventually led to his major film roles in “From Dusk ‘Till Dawn” and “Batman & Robin.”

 

Global Activism

 

Amal Clooney, a distinguished human rights lawyer, noted her husband’s Kentucky manners and tendency to stick up for the most vulnerable, even on the film set.

 

The actor’s social justice work was cited even early on in his Hollywood career.

 

Actor Richard Kind said Clooney once convinced him to help clean up East Los Angeles after the LA riots in 1992. He also joined in the fight for same-sex marriage and more recently, helped raise money for victims of Hurricane Harvey and mentored survivors of the school shooting in Parkland, Florida.

 

When Clooney tried to bring attention to the humanitarian crisis in Sudan in 2012, he was arrested for crossing a police line with his father, a moment he said he’s proud of. He was also the U.N. designated Messenger of Peace from 2008 to 2014.

 

“Look, if the cameras are going to follow me where I go, then I’m going to where the cameras should be,” he said in one of his vignettes.

 

“A Celebration of Life”

 

Apart from his activism, Clooney is also known far and wide for his eternal trickster spirit.

 

Jimmy Kimmel called Clooney “the world’s most diabolical prankster” and told of the actor’s biggest pranks. He once filled Bill Murray’s luggage with gravel and Chris O’Donnell’s car with popcorn. He also ended his film “Monuments Men” with a memorial dedication to his father, who is still alive.

 

But the actor himself wasn’t immune to the comic relief. Murray quipped about how Clooney was receiving the award at such a young age.

 

“I know that all of you thought the same thing that I thought: George is dying,” said Murray. “So, this isn’t really a lifetime achievement award. It’s a celebration of life.”

When the time finally came to receive his award, Shirley MacLaine gave Clooney a tongue-in-cheek lecture, encouraging Clooney to keep preserving his talent and ethics against time.

 

“Please mix your comedy, your humanity, your serious need to help us understand who we are,” said MacLaine. “Please direct more.”
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A 20-meter (22-yard) high sculpture of an ancient Egyptian tomb, made from 7,506 red, white and mauve barrels, has taken temporary residence amid the aquatic wildlife on a lake in London’s Hyde Park.

The floating installation — featuring two vertical sides, two slanted sides and a flat top — was unveiled on Monday by Bulgarian-born artist Christo.

“For three months, The London Mastaba will be a part of Hyde Park’s environment in the center of London,” he said. “The colors will transform with the changes in the light and its reflection on the Serpentine Lake will be like an abstract painting.”

Work started in April to stack the 55-gallon barrels into their cut-off pyramid shape on a floating platform 40 meters long and 30 meters wide. Thirty-two anchors hold the structure in place.

Christo, whose full name is Christo Javacheff, was joined at the launch by former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, chairman of the Serpentine Galleries.

Christo and his wife Jeanne-Claude, who died in 2009, are known for such works as “The Gates,” a 2005 installation in New York’s Central Park, and the wrapping of the Reichstag in Berlin in 1995.
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Discarded life jackets on a beach in Greece inspired artwork by a teenager who wanted to learn more about the refugee crisis.

Achilleas Souras, the 17-year-old creator of the artwork, titled SOS: Save Our Souls, hopes his project prompts others to learn as well. 

Souras was 15 and living in Barcelona when the flood of refugees from places that include the Middle East and Africa landed on the beaches of Lesbos, Greece, and created a humanitarian crisis. 

The idea for the project came to him after he learned about the crisis in school. 

Souras reached out to the mayor of Lesbos, the first stop for thousands of seaborne migrants who undertook their desperate voyage in the Aegean Sea. The island’s beaches were littered with debris from their journeys.

“It culminated in me reaching out to get actual life jackets,” Souras recalled. The mayor of Lesbos responded. 

Souras said the vests still had the smell of the sea. “When I touched them, I realized that every one of these life jackets represented a human life.”

Searching for a theme, Souras, who is of Greek-British heritage, was inspired by what the migrants were seeking – shelter. He used the vests — to build igloo-shaped enclosures modeled on the temporary homes indigenous peoples build of snow and ice in the far north.

The installation struck a chord, and Souras has been invited by museums, design fairs and refugee organizations to show his work around the world. Different versions of the project have been displayed in Spain, Italy, South Africa, Brazil, Thailand and Canada. There is now an installation in Byblos, Lebanon. 

Souras brought a small version of the installation to Los Angeles for the four-day LA Design Festival that ended June 10. The exhibit consisted of miniature life jackets made with fabric from the real ones.

He said the point of the exhibit is not political, and “isn’t really meant to influence somebody’s point of view. “It’s really just meant to make somebody feel more inspired to explore more about the crisis like I did,” he said.

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, more than 65 million people worldwide have been displaced from their homes, and more than 22 million are refugees – people forced to flee because of conflict or persecution. 

Souras said that is something he wants those who see his art to think about. 
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No member of the Myanmar national baseball team is quitting their day job any time soon.

Made up of players in their 20s, 30s and 40s, the club includes maintenance workers, a teacher, as well as a cook.

The coach, Toru Iwasaki, is the founder of a private primary school in Myanmar’s largest city, Yangon. He is originally from Japan and started the baseball program 18 years ago.

“Of course in Myanmar, football [soccer] is the most popular sport,” Iwasaki said. “My passion is to introduce baseball, which is my most favorite sport.”

The team gets very little financial support from the national sports ministry and depends upon money from Iwasaki’s own pocket to stay afloat.

You won’t find baseball bats, balls and gloves on the shelves of sporting good stores in this country. Most of the team’s equipment has been donated by the Japan High School Baseball Federation.

Many of the players Iwasaki recruited had experience playing in softball games organized by the American Embassy. So while they understood some basic rules, Iwasaki had to explain to them a lot of the mechanics and necessary skills. He also taught them about strategy and field positioning. Iwasaki knows a little Burmese and his players have picked up some English as well as Japanese.

Between the mix of languages and Iwasaki’s hand gestures he gets his messages across. 

“Sometimes all it takes is the happy or angry tone of voice to make my point,” he said with a grin.

Kyaw Thuya Tun, 33, is the team’s first baseman. He drives a taxi to support his wife and two daughters.

“I drive the car to work for my family and I play baseball because I love it,” he said.

The team plays on the site of an old horse race track. The field is a combination of weeds, overgrown grass and hardened dirt, or mud depending upon the weather. The scoreboard is changed by hand.

On a cloudy afternoon with intermittent rain, the Myanmar national team narrowly beat a rag-tag squad of expatriates from the U.S. and Japan by a score of 7 to 6. It’s one of several games the Myanmar team played this year against teams made up of local expatriates.

“I like coming out with the guys and the camaraderie that comes out of it,” said Mick Amundson-Geisel, who played first base for the expatriate team.

He’s 46 years old and played high school baseball in Colorado. Amundson-Geisel now works as a guidance counselor at an international school in Yangon. On this day, he’s competing against the Myanmar team. On other days he practices with them.

“It’s definitely an American game, but it certainly has Asian aspects here like the language that they use and the cheers that they do,” Amundson-Geisel said.

But you get a sense of how little is known about baseball in Myanmar when you notice there are only about 25 people in the stands during the game. The team prepared a printout in the local Burmese language with some of the basics of the sport to help fans follow along. Few people understand baseball in this country where football/soccer is king.

“People don’t even know what this uniform is for,” said Kyaw Thuya Tun pointing to the clothes he was wearing. “In other countries people know this is a baseball uniform. But here it’s hard to explain what baseball is about.”

The Myanmar national team couldn’t beat most American high school baseball teams. But watching the squad in practice and compete in a game, it’s clear there’s no shortage of enthusiasm. The players say they love the sport and will keep swinging away.
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Following a red carpet arrival Saturday at the New Orleans Museum of Art, King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia of Spain enjoyed music by a jazz group and a cultural performance by Mardi Gras Indians as they ended a visit to the city celebrating its tricentennial.

After a private lunch with New Orleans Mayor Latoya Cantrell, Louisiana Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser and other dignitaries and officials, the royals departed New Orleans for San Antonio, Texas, which is also celebrating 300 years of existence.

“It was a great and amazing weekend for the city, our residents and the king and queen for them to come back to a former Spanish colony,” said Trey Caruso, a spokesman for Cantrell’s office.

Musical connections

Clarinetist, music historian and Xavier University Spanish professor Michael White said he and his Original Liberty Brass Band played two pieces with a connection to Europe and New Orleans at the New Orleans Museum of Art.

The first piece was Panama, a march in the traditional European style.

“It was published in 1911, and all over the country it was played by and read by brass bands,” White said prior to the performance. “But in New Orleans they kind of threw away the sheet music and improvised, and therefore made it personal. I think it’s a good way to show the interaction between European culture and New Orleans culture.”

The second piece, Andalusian Strut, was one of White’s compositions. It combines a common flamenco structure and flamenco-type rhythms and melodies with classic New Orleans jazz style and improvisation, he said.

“That one went over really, really well,” White said after the event. “The king and all of the people there really loved it.”

White said their third song was When the Saints Go Marching In, which White described as “probably the most famous song in New Orleans history.”

“We surprised them by singing the chorus in Spanish,” he said.

The Mardi Gras Indians, groups of African-Americans who create elaborate feathered and beaded costumes in which they strut and dance through the streets on Mardi Gras, performed as well.

“Though the program was relatively short, I think overall it gave a good idea of New Orleans’ culture,” White said.

Arrived Thursday

Felipe and Letizia flew in Thursday evening to Louisiana, which was a Spanish colony from 1763 to 1802. They arrived at New Orleans’ airport at sunset and were greeted by several officials, including Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards and Cantrell.

They saluted New Orleans’ centuries-old Spanish heritage at an event Friday at Gallier Hall, a former City Hall opened in 1853 and renovated for the city’s 300th anniversary. That evening, they visited two buildings erected under Spanish rule: St. Louis Cathedral and the Cabildo, the Spanish government seat in Louisiana.

On Monday they’ll go to Washington for a White House visit Tuesday with President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump.
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A major fire has torn through one of Scotland’s architectural gems, the Mackintosh building at the Glasgow School of Art, for the second time in four years.

More than 120 firefighters fought the blaze during the night as it gutted the 1909 building and spread to a theater and a nearby nightclub. No casualties were reported.

“The extent of the damage is very severe,” Peter Heath, deputy assistant chief officer of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, told reporters at the scene in Glasgow city center Saturday morning.

The fire “has reached from the ground floor right through to the roof,” he said.

By morning the fire was under control, but smoke was still rising from the building as firefighters sprayed it from tall ladders. Heath said the theater was still on fire and its roof had partly collapsed, but the blaze was no longer spreading.

The Mackintosh building had been scheduled to reopen next year after millions of pounds in restoration works following a fire in May 2014.

“My first thoughts tonight are for the safety of people, but my heart also breaks for Glasgow’s beloved School of Art,” Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said on Twitter.

The Mackintosh building is named after its architect, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Scotland’s most influential designer.

The School of Art’s website says the building “heralded the birth of a new style in 20th century European architecture.”

Heath said fire crews were called about 20 minutes before midnight Friday, and by the time they arrived fire had spread to the whole building.

The area was quickly evacuated and cordoned off. It remained inaccessible to the public Saturday morning.

“This is a devastating loss for Glasgow, absolutely devastating,” Heath said.
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Among the millions of fans watching the World Cup are amateur football players who have dreams of being as good as their heroes, Now, they have a new way to compare their performance to the best professionals in the game, so they can build their skills. The help comes from a new wearable device that uses GPS and other sensors to track their movements. Faiza Elmasry has the story. Faith Lapidus narrates.
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The phrase ‘don’t mix politics and sport’ is often heard in Moscow these days. But it’s difficult to escape the unique circumstances of this year’s World Cup. As the tournament gets underway in Russia, the country remains subject to a range of international sanctions over its annexation of Crimea and invasion of Ukraine. As Henry Ridgwell reports from Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin sees the World Cup as an opportunity to break that isolation and present a different image of Russia.
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World Cup fever hit the United Nations Thursday as ambassadors and staffers gathered to watch the opening match and celebrate the link between peace and sport. Our U.N. Correspondent Margaret Besheer was there.
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Republican and Democratic lawmakers took to the field Thursday night for the annual congressional charity baseball game. It fell on the first anniversary of a shooting spree at a practice last year that almost killed U.S. House Majority Whip Steve Scalise. Jill Craig was in the stands for the first pitch.
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As soccer’s top stars arrive in Russia to chase World Cup glory, their fans from around the world have also made their way there to participate in the fun and hopefully see their team win. VOA’s Mariama Diallo reports.
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Much like the rest of the world, Muslims in America are in the midst of the holy month of Ramadan — praying, fasting, giving to charity and breaking their monthlong fast every day at sunset. But as VOA’s Urdu, Kurdish and Turkish services reports, Muslims get together to enjoy the holy month in different ways. Serhan Akyildiz, Aziz Ahmed, Raveen Dosky contributed to this report. Bezhan Hamdard narrates.
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An Indian chess champion announced she will not be participating in a tournament in Iran, as the country’s law requiring women to wear headscarves is a violation of her human rights, she said.

Soumya Swaminathan, a 29-year-old grandmaster, wrote on Facebook, “It seems that under the present circumstances, the only way for me to protect my rights is not to go to Iran.”

Swaminathan was scheduled to be part of the Indian team in the Asian Team Chess Competition, taking place in Hamadan, Iran, from July 26 to Aug. 4.

Iran and Saudi Arabia are two countries that by law require women to wear headscarves in public, although the practice is common in fellow Muslim-majority nations.

In February, Iranian police arrested 29 people following a series of protests in which women removed their headscarves in public.

Swaminathan is not the only female grandmaster to find herself in opposition to Iran’s laws. In October, Iranian national Dorsa Derakhshani was barred from playing in the country, or for the national team, after she played in a tournament in Gibraltar earlier that year without donning the headscarf. 

Derakhshani later moved to the United States and joined the U.S. national team.

“It feels good and … peaceful to play for a federation where I am welcomed and supported,” Derakhshani said.
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Comcast made a $65 billion bid Wednesday for Fox’s entertainment businesses, setting up a battle with Disney to become the next mega-media company.

The bid comes just a day after a federal judge cleared AT&T’s takeover of Time Warner and rejected the government’s argument that it would hurt competition in cable and satellite TV and jack up costs to consumers for streaming TV and movies. The ruling signaled that Comcast could win regulatory approval, too; its bid for Fox shares many similarities with the AT&T-Time Warner deal.

Comcast says its cash bid is 19 percent higher than the value of Disney’s offer as of Wednesday. The Wall Street Journal and others reported earlier that Comcast had lined up $60 billion in cash to challenge Disney for media mogul Rupert Murdoch’s company. Disney’s offer was for $52.5 billion when it was made in December, though the final value will depend on the stock price at the closing.

The battle for Twenty-First Century Fox comes as traditional entertainment companies try to amass more content to compete better with technology companies such as Amazon and Netflix for viewers’ attention — and dollars.

If the Comcast bid succeeds, a major cable distributor would control even more channels on its lineup and those of its rivals. That could lead to higher cable bills or make it more difficult for online alternatives to emerge, though there is not yet evidence of either happening following other mergers. For Disney, a successful Comcast bid could make Disney’s planned streaming service less attractive, without the Fox video.

Content is becoming more important as ways to deliver content proliferate. Cable companies like Comcast are no longer competing only with satellite alternatives such as DirecTV, but also stand-alone services such as Netflix and cable-like online bundles through Sony, AT&T and others.

Disney already started its own sports streaming service and plans an entertainment-focused one late next year featuring movies and shows from its own studios, which include Marvel, Pixar and Star Wars creator Lucasfilm.

With the Fox deal, Disney would get more content for those services — through the studios behind the Avatar movies, The Simpsons and Modern Family, along with National Geographic. Marvel would get back the characters previously licensed to Fox, reuniting X-Men with the Avengers.

Comcast, meanwhile, has been leading the way in marrying pipes with the entertainment that flows through them. It bought NBCUniversal’s cable channels and movie studio in 2013 and added Dreamworks Animation in 2016.

The Philadelphia company has been tinkering with the traditional cable bundle, offering stand-alone subscriptions for some types of video along with smaller bundles of cable channels delivered over the internet. Comcast has said it will add Netflix to some cable bundles.

With Fox, Comcast would expand a portfolio that already includes U.S. television rights to the Olympics and comedy offerings such as Saturday Night Live.

Whichever company prevails would also control Fox’s cable and international TV businesses. That’s key for Comcast, which currently doesn’t have an international presence. The Fox television network and some cable channels including Fox News and Fox Business Network would stay with Murdoch’s family under either deal, as with the newspaper and book businesses under a separate company, News Corp.

Fox shareholders are set to vote on the Disney bid on July 10. Despite Comcast’s higher offer, it’s not immediately clear whether Fox’s board would entertain it. According to regulatory filings, an unnamed company, widely thought to be Comcast, previously made an offer for Fox. But Fox went with Disney because of concerns it would face more regulatory scrutiny with the other company.

That was before U.S. District Judge Richard Leon ruled in AT&T’s favor and rejected the government’s argument that its takeover of Time Warner would hurt competition in pay TV and cost consumers hundreds of millions of dollars more to stream TV and movies. The government worried that AT&T, as DirecTV’s owner, could charge Comcast and other rival distributors higher prices for Time Warner channels like CNN or HBO. In turn, that could drive up what consumers pay. AT&T and Time Warner argue they’re simply trying to stay afloat in the new streaming environment.

Disney wouldn’t face the same issues because it isn’t a television distributor as the way Comcast and AT&T are. But if Disney gets Fox, the combined movie studios would account for 45 percent of worldwide box office revenue, according to BTIG analyst Richard Greenfield. That could raise regulatory objections. A larger studio could use its power to keep its movies in more theaters longer, dampening competition from rival studios.

Disney and Comcast had already been at battle in the U.K. over Sky TV. Fox has a 39 percent stake in that company and has been trying to buy outright, with the intention of selling the full company to Disney as part of that deal. U.K. regulators have given the OK to that offer if Fox sells Sky News. Regulators there also have cleared Comcast’s $30.7 billion offer for the 61 percent of Sky that Murdoch doesn’t own.

In addition to the $35-per-share cash offer, Comcast agreed to pay a $2.5 billion termination fee if the deal doesn’t pass regulatory muster. It also agreed to reimburse Fox for the $1.5 billion-plus break-up fee it agreed to pay to Disney if their deal doesn’t go through.

Disney and Fox did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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Football’s governing body has awarded the 2026 World Cup to a joint hosting bid by Canada, Mexico and the United States.

FIFA member countries voted 134-65 in favor of the three-nation group over runner-up Morocco.

President Donald Trump praised the selection for the 2026 World Cup.

The 2018 World Cup begins Thursday with host Russia playing Saudi Arabia.

The 2022 tournament will take place in Qatar.
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Belgium is celebrating the 60th birthday of the Smurfs by giving fans the chance to experience living in their village and take a virtual reality ride through mystical forests and caves.

Cartoonist Pierre Culliford, who wrote under the pseudonym Peyo, struck gold with the incidental creation of the Smurfs in 1958, as he initially had only invented them as supporting characters in his comic of medieval heroes Johan And Peewit.

After a great public response and demand for more Smurf adventures, the Belgian put the blue-skinned creatures center stage with their own comic book the following year.

That set off a global conquest of the family of Smurf characters as they fight off sorcerer Gargamel, who wants to turn them into gold – culminating in a Hollywood hit grossing half a billion dollars in box office takings in 2011.

​In the Smurf Experience at Brussels Expo, which will run until late January 2019, visitors are taken through the Smurf village, with human sized mushroom shaped homes, and the virtual reality ride, while fighting Gargamel.

In a linguistically divided country, the Smurfs have become a unifying symbol in Belgium alongside chocolate, waffles, beer and the national soccer team.

“They (Smurfs) are a symbol of Belgian culture and of Belgian heritage,” said Chloé Beaufays, the spokeswoman of the exhibition.

Organizers hope to take the exhibition to other European countries as well as the United States and Asia over next five years.
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When filmmaker Bernadett Tuza-Ritter met 52-year-old Marish, a Hungarian factory worker and maid, she was drawn to her haggard face – one that seemed as if it belonged to a much older woman.

Tuza-Ritter asked if she could film Marish’s life, factory by day and househelp by night, for a few days to make a five-minute film. But those few days turned into 18 months as the director slowly understood the dark reality she was capturing.

“I’m not sure there was a moment I realized my film was uncovering modern slavery; it was a gradual process,” said the director of “A Woman Captured” — an 85-minute documentary about domestic slavery screened at the Sheffield Doc Fest this week.

“My eyes are open now and it will be impossible to keep them closed again,” she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation at the U.K. premiere of her film, which was featured at Sundance in January.

The documentary closely follows the life of Marish, a single mother who has been trapped for more than a decade as an unpaid domestic worker in Hungary by an abusive employer called Eta.

One of millions of women worldwide enslaved in domestic servitude – through physical or psychological coercion – Marish sleeps on a sofa, only eats leftovers, and is forced to take out loans for her boss and hand over her wages from the factory.

In the film, Marish yearns to be reunited with her teenage daughter who had been driven from the house by Eta years before.

“Happiness is not for me,” she tells Tuza-Ritter on camera, which remains almost entirely fixed on Marish during the film.

Eta – who has two other maids employed in similar conditions – allows the filmmaker into her home in exchange for payment and in the belief that she has nothing to hide or be ashamed of.

“It’s not like she’s under control,” Eta says in the film – off-screen as her face is never revealed – explaining how she provides Marish with food, cigarettes and a roof over her head.

Despite her initial hopelessness, Marish grows in confidence through her bond with Tuza-Ritter and the film culminates in her escape by night and an eventual reunion with her young daughter.

“I felt responsible for her and I felt guilty,” Tuza-Ritter said at Britain’s biggest documentary festival. “I know documentary filmmakers talk of observational filming, but that was impossible.”

Anti-slavery activists hope the film will shine a light on the hidden nature of domestic servitude and modern slavery – an industry that affects an estimated 40 million people worldwide.

“The heart-breaking story of Marish shows the reality of millions of women trapped in slavery across the world … All too often, slavery is also hidden in plain sight,” said Klara Skrivankova of London-based charity Anti-Slavery International. “We should look closely around us and be aware that domestic slavery – coercion and violence – can be happening next door.”
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A score by Mozart and a letter from Vincent Van Gogh are among hundreds of lots up for grabs this month in auctions of items by composers, artists and writers.

They are going under the hammer in Paris as part of a series of sales aimed at liquidating a 130,000-item collection of art, music and literary works put together by French group Aristophil, which was set up in 1990 and raised funds from investors in exchange for a share in the pieces.

The group went bankrupt in 2015 and Aristophil founder Gerard Lheritier has put under investigation for fraud, a charge he has denied.

The first sale took place in December and the next round kicks off this week, with the Mozart score estimated to fetch between 120,000 euros and 150,000 euros ($141,500 to $177,000) and a letter with illustrations from Van Gogh to his friend Anthon van Rappard seen selling at around 250,000-300,000 euros.

“The market is awaiting these sales because Aristophil bought everything for several years,” Claude Aguttes of Aguttes auctioneers said.

“Now all of these works are available again, so people are happy first to be able to see them at various exhibitions and then to bid on them and maybe acquire them.”
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Indonesia is rich in commodities such as oil, gas, gold and tin, but a handful of government officials think its most powerful resources are cultural. 

They belong to a dynamic young body called the Creative Economy Agency, or BEKRAF (an acronym derived from its Indonesian name) that was created in 2015 by President Joko Widodo to promote Indonesia’s cultural output both at home and abroad.

“Oil and gas are finite resources. The only thing that lasts forever is creativity,” said Boni Pudjianto, BEKRAF’s director for international markets. 

BEKRAF’s staff was appointed meritocratically through an open call to government officers, regardless of background. Boni, for instance, has a doctorate in engineering and was posted at the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology before he joined BEKRAF. 

“It’s an experimental agency,” he said. “It’s a new model for a governmental body.” 

BEKRAF wants to promote the arts of the world’s fourth largest country more effectively to a global audience.

The agency was behind Indonesia’s acclaimed pavilion at this year’s Venice Architecture Biennale, called “Sunyata: The Poetics of Emptiness.” It was Indonesia’s second time at the biennale, following a debut effort in 2014. This entry was overseen from start to finish by BEKRAF, from the selection of six curators to the opening ceremony on May 25. 

“Indonesia is trying to put our architecture at the same level as [that of] other countries,” said Boni, in Venice last month. “And we want to leverage this exposure on the international stage to promote the field back home.”

Key industries

BEKRAF is a “quasi-governmental institution,” according to Boni, that combines representatives of the private sector with competitively chosen government officials. 

It supports Indonesian exhibits at international fairs like Venice’s art and architecture biennales, as well as sundry fashion weeks, expos and film festivals. BEKRAF also backs small businesses and enterprises in creative sectors, like the upstart batik (traditional wax-resist dyed cloth) brand called Rajasamas Batik. 

“Any major festival in the world, we want to participate in it and show the best contemporary art in Indonesia,” said Triawan Munuf, BEKRAF’s chairman. So far, he said, what people know of Indonesian culture, if anything, is Bali (the Hindu-majority island that is popular with tourists) and traditional arts like wayang kulit, or shadow-puppet drama. “But we also have to show our state of the art projects, although it’s not something we can change overnight.”

For example, the late Nelson Mandela famously wore batik, said Triawan. “But we weren’t able to catalyze that into more interest in the batik industry.”

It’s a cautionary tale about relying on any silver bullet to raise an industry’s profile. His vision runs on a longer time frame of years and decades, and on backing many horses across all the creative industries: food, fashion, architecture, art, film, video games and so on.

BEKRAF’s current slate of supported programs includes startup funding workshops in seven cities, a performance by the Jakarta City Philharmonic, an installation of an “Indonesia Music Market” in Cannes, and a booth at the world’s largest technology exhibition in Taiwan.

One early success that Triawan cites is that BEKRAF has helped increase the number of Indonesian films that are seen by Indonesians themselves.

“We went from about 5 percent [of films shown in Indonesian theaters that are made in Indonesia] three years ago to 20 percent today,” he said. BEKRAF deployed incentives like removing films from the “negative investments” list in 2016, and opening the movie industry for foreign investment. “By next year, I hope that number is 50 percent,” Triawan said.

Plans to expand

Arts and culture once fell under the purview of Indonesia’s tourism ministry, but Widodo created BEKRAF as a stand-alone body to further his greater goal of economic growth. 

Indonesia’s creative industries contributed 990.4 trillion Indonesian rupiah, or $71 billion, to the country’s GDP in 2017, about 7.6 percent of the total, and provided jobs for 16.2 million people.

But almost 98 percent of creative industry businesses only market their products locally, according to BEKRAF, due in part to funding and intellectual property constraints. Dealing with those issues on a granular level is BEKRAF’s next big task, beyond big-ticket events like the biennale. 

BEKRAF reportedly got off to a rough start in 2015, taking six months to fill its senior leadership and facing a budget that barely covered its daily operations. But within three years, it has grown into its identity as a unique body within Indonesia’s governing apparatus. 

In Venice, Triawan concluded the inauguration of the Indonesia pavilion, which took the form of an expansive, white, Tvyek-paper parabola, by strolling through some of the neighboring exhibits. He passed the Italian pavilion, which unfolded through several chambers of a warehouse in the Arsenale complex and included dioramas, screens, hanging mobiles, rolling film clips and oblong tables of sculptural objects. Its cerebral and eclectic approach contrasted with Indonesia’s, which primed simplicity and striking visuals. 

Triawan was impressed.

“In 10 years,” he said, gesturing around the warehouse, “We must be like this, too.” Boni agreed.

“We love Italy,” he said. “They are not the most industralized country in Europe. But their products have a special touch of craftsmanship, just like in Indonesia. Everyone knows what ‘Made in Italy’ means. We want them to know what ‘Made in Indonesia’ means, too.”
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Eighth-grade teacher Ari Mascarenhas could have picked high-tech gadgets or modern apps to help his students learn Portuguese, but he instead went old school with the World Cup sticker book.

He’s been a fan since 1986 — when he was 8 — and the attraction for the collectibles has trickled down generations and endured for adults who still trade the stickers in Brazil, the United States and other countries.

Mascarenhas said his soccer-loving students develop critical language skills by studying every part of the 80-page book filled with team rosters, country flags and historical info. They read stats, names and other information while associating it with colors, illustrations and other visual cues.

“With the sticker book, they see that language goes beyond verbal. I loved the way they interacted swapping stickers, so I thought this year I could use an analog cue in this digital world,” said Mascarenhas, a teacher at German-Brazilian Colegio Humboldt in Sao Paulo.

The book’s popularity has spread as the World Cup nears its opening in Russia on June 14, despite sticker prices nearly doubling in some countries, including Brazil. That led to some grumbling in the South American nation, which has been in a financial crisis for the past three years with widespread poverty. Still, most of the 7 million sticker books put on the market quickly sold.

Panini, the Italian collectibles company that publishes the books, declined to say how profitable the World Cup books are, but the company itself had revenue of 631 million euros ($743 million U.S. dollars) in 2016, with products sold in more than 120 countries. Brazil is the largest market for the sticker books, followed by the United States with its sizable Latino population and England.

The allure for the books is similar to baseball or Pokemon cards — challenging fans to complete the set. Each book has spots for 681 stickers depicting things like stadiums, players, host cities. The stickers themselves are sold in packs of six.

The days leading up to the tournament have become crunch time for collectors.

Making trades

Actress Bruna Marquezine, the girlfriend of Brazil superstar Neymar, noticed high demand of stickers depicting the player. So, she decided to swap stickers autographed by her boyfriend for those she still needs.

“I know this is cheating a little, but I will not have my sticker book incomplete this time,” Marquezine joked on social media as she lured swappers.

Experts say fans would need to buy about 970 packs to fill their books without trades, because of the rarity of some of the stickers, though Panini CEO Mark Warsop said there’s no difference in the frequency of stickers.

Mathematics professor Sebastiao de Amorim of the Universidade de Campinas said some stickers being hard to find is part of what makes collecting them enticing.  Some are even sold at inflated prices.

“The minimum figure to complete the album is of 137 packages, but the odds of getting that, especially because some stickers are harder to find, are the same of winning the lottery,” De Amorim said.

Digital version

Panini is also hoping that a digital, mobile version of its paper product gains steam, like Pokemon and other titles that have proven popular in multiple formats. 

Panini’s sticker book app was downloaded more than 1.5 million times, introducing new ways to get stickers for users, including product placements. Warsop said he thinks it will pick up during future World Cups.

“The nice thing about the digital is that you can also swap and trade wherever you are,” he said. “We want people to trade even if they are not in the same place.”

Widespread use might be a way off for adults who are currently introducing the hobby to kids.

“I can’t sell my stickers there [on the app]. People want paper,” said salesman Renato Chaves, who took a van with more than 4,000 stickers to sell outside Brazil’s training camp in Teresopolis, outside Rio de Janeiro.

Georgia Bulgackov, a 13-year-old student learning from the sticker book in Sao Paulo, said it’s amazing to learn from a toy.

“What we love is to mix learning with something from our daily life, that made me understand more what the teacher wanted,” she said.

Mascarenhas, her teacher, said he hopes his pupils can stretch their interaction with the sticker book to other parts of their lives.

“There are not many products that bring people together. In such a divisive world we can still swap, trade and have something in common,” he said.
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Described as bright, thoughtful and bold – the art that Mike Van Hall makes is both unexpected and accessible. But what makes his art unique is that you don’t have to go to a museum to admire it – just pop by a grocery store and walk down the beer isle. Mike is an artist, and beer cans are his canvas. Anna Rice has the story.
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The Band’s Visit, a musical about a an Egyptian police orchestra booked for a concert in an Israeli town, but end up in the wrong town, took home the prize for the best new musical at Sunday’s Tony Awards honoring Broadway performances

The stars of The Band’s Visit – Katrina Lenk and Tony Shalhoub – won the top acting in a musical prizes. 

Based on at 2007 Israeli film of the same name, The Band’s Visit beat out Frozen, Mean Girls, and SpongeBob SquarePants. 

Once On This Island won the best musical revival Tony.The 1990 calypso-infused musical triumphed over My Fair Lady and Carousel. 

“(Let’s) just bake a cake for everyone who wants a cake to be baked,” Andrew Garfield said when he won a Tony Award for best leading actor in a play for his work in Angels In America, the revival of Tony Kushner’s monumental drama about life, love, AIDS and homosexuality in the 1980s. 

Garfield’s remark was a reference to the recent Supreme Court decision in favor of a baker’s right to refuse to bake a cake for a gay couple’s wedding. 

The awards show turned political once again when actor Robert De Niro came on stage to introduce a performance by special Tony winner Bruce Springsteen. 

De Niro shouted an obscenity about the president of the United States and received a standing ovation. He said it again to more cheers. The CBS-TV censors bleeped out the obscenity for television viewers. 

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two won prizes for best play, best director of a play, best sound design, best lighting design, best scenic design, and best costume design. 

Broadway veteran Nathan Lane won the Tony Award for best featured actor in a play for his work in Angels in America.

Josh Groban and Sara Bareilles co-hosted for this year’s awards ceremony.

Eighty-two year old British actress Glenda Jackson won her first Tony for her role in the revival of Edward Albee’s Three Tall Women. 

Laurie Metcalf won best featured actress in a play for Three Tall Women. Metcalf won a Tony last year for A Doll’s House, Part 2. 

But in the midst of Broadway’s magical night, one award was presented for outstanding off-Broadway work. The recipient was Melody Hertzfeld, the head of the drama department at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. 

The drama teacher was recognized for saving dozens of children from the deadly mass shooting at the school that claimed 17 lives. She is credited for saving more than 65 students by guiding them to safety and keeping them out of harm’s way for more than two hours. 

She received the 2018 Excellence in Theatrical Education award, which honors an educator “who has demonstrated monumental impact on the lives of students.” It comes with a $10,000 prize for the winner’s theater program. 
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“(Let’s) just bake a cake for everyone who wants a cake to be baked,” Andrew Garfield said when he won a Tony Award Sunday night in New York for best leading actor in a play for his work in Angels In America, the revival of Tony Kushner’s monumental drama about AIDS and homosexuality in the 1980s. 

Garfield’s remark was a reference to last week’s Supreme Court decision in favor of a baker’s right to refuse to bake a cake for a gay couple’s wedding. 

Josh Groban and Sara Bareilles are the co-hosts for this year’s awards ceremony for the best performances on Broadway. 

A band of Egyptian musicians, a sea sponge, an ice princess, mean girls and a magical child named Harry Potter are among those vying Sunday for the highest honors bestowed on Broadway theater: the Tony Awards. 

Broadway veteran Nathan Lane won the Tony Award for best featured actor in a play for his work in Angels in America. 

Eighty-two year old British actress Glenda Jackson won her first Tony for her role in the revival of Edward Albee’s Three Tall Women. 

Laurie Metcalf won best featured actress in a play for Three Tall Women. Metcalf won a Tony last year for A Doll’s House, Part 2. 

But in the midst of Broadway’s magical night, one award was presented for outstanding off-Broadway work. The recipient was Melody Hertzfeld, the head of the drama department at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. 

The drama teacher was recognized for saving dozens of children from the deadly mass shooting at the school that claimed 17 lives. She is credited for saving more than 65 students by guiding them to safety and keeping them out of harm’s way for more than two hours. 

She received the 2018 Excellence in Theatrical Education award, which honors an educator “who has demonstrated monumental impact on the lives of students.” It comes with a $10,000 prize for the winner’s theater program. 
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There will be no Winter Olympics in Switzerland in 2026.

Voters in the southern canton of Valais rejected a proposal Sunday to bid on the games that would have been centered in the Swiss city of Sion.

Voters apparently balked at the high cost the canton would have had to put up to host the games — an estimated $101 million.

Supporters of the bid say it was a “reasonable and sustainable” project and that the games would have brought billions into the local economy.

Two other Swiss regions had also rejected hosting the games in earlier referendums.

With Switzerland out of the running, the International Olympic Committee will likely choose between Turin and Milan, Italy; Graz, Austria; Erzurum, Turkey; Calgary in Alberta, Canada; Sapporo, Japan; and Stockholm to host the 2026 Winter Games.

A decision is expected in September 2019.
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