‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Wins Tom Cruise 1st $100 Million Opening

Forget breaking the sound barrier: Tom Cruise just soared past a major career milestone. The 59-year-old superstar just got his first $100 million opening weekend with “Top Gun: Maverick.” In its first three days in North American theaters, the long-in-the-works sequel earned an estimated $124 million in ticket sales, Paramount Pictures said Sunday. Including international…

‘Triangle of Sadness’ Wins Palme d’Or at Cannes Film Fest

Swedish director Ruben Ostlund’s class warfare comedy “Triangle of Sadness” won the Palme d’Or at the 75th Cannes Film Festival on Saturday, giving Ostlund one of cinema’s most prestigious prizes for the second time.  Ostlund, whose art-world send-up “The Square” took the Palme in 2017, pulled off the rare feat of winning Cannes’ top award…

‘Princess of the Wall of Death’: Indonesian Daredevil Defies Gravity and Stereotypes

Karmila Purba revs her motorbike under the lights of an Indonesian night carnival and rides up horizontally inside a wooden cylinder called Satan’s Barrel, drawing gasps from spectators looking down into the drum.  With a smile on her face, Purba delights onlookers as she fearlessly pings around the bowl in Bogor, West Java, spreading her…

Insecurity Puts Mali’s Historic Djenné Mosque at Risk

Experts say Mali’s struggle against Islamist militants is putting its World Heritage sites at risk. For the first time in modern history, officials say, the annual replastering of the mud mosque in the town of Djenné in central Mali will likely be canceled because of security concerns. The concerns cast doubt onto the government’s claim…

Racism In The Ranks: Dutch Police Film Spurs Conversation

A documentary about discrimination within the ranks of Dutch police has sparked a national conversation in the Netherlands about racism, with many officers and others hoping it will finally bring about change. The Blue Family, or De Blauwe Familie in Dutch, discusses a culture of bullying and fear in the national police force. It premiered…

Louvre Ex-Director Charged in Art Trafficking Case

A former director of the Louvre Museum in Paris has been charged with conspiring to hide the origin of archaeological treasures that investigators suspect were smuggled out of Egypt in the chaos of the Arab Spring, a French judicial source said Thursday. Jean-Luc Martinez was charged Wednesday after being taken in for questioning along with…

Indian Novel ‘Tomb of Sand’ Wins International Booker Prize

Indian writer Geetanjali Shree and American translator Daisy Rockwell won the International Booker Prize on Thursday for Tomb of Sand, a vibrant novel with a boundary-crossing 80-year-old heroine. Originally written in Hindi, it’s the first book in any Indian language to win the high-profile award, which recognizes fiction from around the world that has been…

Ray Liotta, ‘Goodfellas’ and ‘Field of Dreams’ Star, Dies

Ray Liotta, the actor best known for playing mobster Henry Hill in “Goodfellas” and baseball player Shoeless Joe Jackson in “Field of Dreams,” has died. He was 67. A source at the Dominican Republic’s National Forensic Science Institute who was not authorized to speak to the media confirmed the death of Ray Liotta and said…

Actor Kevin Spacey Charged in UK with 4 Counts of Sexual Assault

British prosecutors said Thursday they have charged actor Kevin Spacey with four counts of sexual assault against three men.  The Crown Prosecution Service said Spacey “has also been charged with causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent.”  The alleged incidents took place in London between March 2005 and August 2008, and…

Biden to Host K-pop Stars BTS, Discuss Anti-Asian Hate Crimes

K-pop superstars BTS will head to the White House next week to address hate crimes targeting Asians and people of Asian descent with U.S. President Joe Biden, the White House said in a statement on Thursday. Biden would host the global phenomenon musical group on Tuesday and would “discuss Asian inclusion and representation, and to…

Controversial Russian Opera Star Takes Stage in Paris

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in late February, Western nations have sidelined a raft of Russian artists, dancers and musicians with links to President Vladimir Putin. That includes star opera singer Anna Netrebko, who was dropped by the Metropolitan Opera in New York. Netrebko, however, is making a comeback of sorts with an appearance Wednesday…

Gallaudet University Celebrates its Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Graduates

Gallaudet University in Washington hosted its first undergraduate commencement ceremony since the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020. Gallaudet is the only university in the world where deaf, deaf-blind and hard-of-hearing students live and learn bilingually in American Sign Language and English. Keynote speaker Apple CEO Tim Cook and Oscar-winning actress Marlee Matlin, among others, addressed the…

Greek Leader Urges Students to Sustain, Strengthen Democracy

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told graduates of Boston College in his commencement address Monday that it is their sacred duty to protect democracy in an age when it is coming under increasing stress.  The future of democracy looked unassailable when his generation graduated from college in the late 1980s, Mitsotakis said, roughly the time…

Artists Flock to Dakar for Biennale

One of the most prominent events in the world of contemporary African art is kicking off in the Senegalese capital after a four-year absence due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 14th edition of the Dakar Biennale features the work of hundreds of artists from around the world, ranging from immersive installations to costumed performances. About…

Cannes Favorite Returns to Show Horror of ‘Human Animals’

One of Eastern Europe’s most acclaimed filmmakers, Romania’s Cristian Mungiu, is back at the Cannes Film Festival with a dark tale about how little it takes for people to turn on their neighbors. His wrenching Ceausescu-era drama about illegal abortion “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days” clinched the top prize at the world’s top…

Creator of ‘Star Wars’ X-Wing and Death Star Dies at 90

Colin Cantwell, the man who designed the spacecraft in the “Star Wars” films, has died. He was 90. The Hollywood Reporter reported Sunday that Sierra Dall, Cantwell’s partner, confirmed that he died at his home in Colorado on Saturday. Cantwell designed the prototypes for the X-wing Starfighter, TIE fighter and Death Star. He also worked…

Longtime ‘New Yorker’ Writer, Editor Roger Angell Dies

Roger Angell, the celebrated baseball writer and reigning man of letters who during an unfaltering 70-plus years helped define The New Yorker’s urbane wit and style through his essays, humor pieces and editing, has died. He was 101. Angell died Friday of heart failure, according to The New Yorker. “No one lives forever, but you’d…

Early Voting Holds off Epicenter to Win Preakness Stakes

Maybe extra rest isn’t such a bad thing for a racehorse after all. In the Preakness Stakes that was run without the Kentucky Derby winner because Rich Strike’s owner felt he needed more time off after his 80-1 upset, Early Voting validated a gutsy decision to skip the Derby and aim for the second leg…

Rosmarie Trapp, Whose Family Inspired ‘Sound of Music,’ Dies

Rosmarie Trapp, whose Austrian family the von Trapps was made famous in the musical and beloved movie “The Sound of Music,” has died. She died Friday at the age of 93 at a nursing home in Morrisville, Vermont, Trapp Family Lodge announced. Her brother Johannes is president of the Stowe resort. Rosmarie was the first…

1955 Mercedes Sells For Record $143 Million: Sotheby’s

A 1955 Mercedes-Benz, one of only two such versions in existence, was auctioned off earlier this month for a whopping $143 million, making it the world’s most expensive car ever sold, RM Sotheby’s announced Thursday. The 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupe was sold to a private collector for almost triple the previous record, which was set…

‘Chariots of Fire’ Composer Vangelis Dies at 79 

Vangelis, the Greek electronic composer who wrote the unforgettable Academy Award-winning score for the film “Chariots of Fire” and music for dozens of other movies, documentaries and TV series, has died at 79.  Greek media reported that Vangelis — born Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou — died in a French hospital late Tuesday. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis…

Female Referees to Officiate Men’s World Cup for 1st Time 

Female referees will make World Cup history this year by working games at a major men’s tournament for the first time in Qatar. Three female referees and three female assistant referees were announced Thursday by FIFA among 129 officials selected for World Cup duty, including one man who caused controversy when refereeing a chaotic African…