Culture

The Sound of Heritage: Noel Anderson and Ireland’s Last Handmade Harps

This is Beirut 18:00 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

"It's never too late to start a new hobby," says 89-year-old Irish harp maker Noel Anderson, one of only a few making the intricate instrument, a national symbol of Ireland. A retired wood and metalwork teacher, Anderson only took up the niche craft seven years ago, making his first harp at age 82. "It doesn't matter what age I am, really; I ...

Universal Music and Udio Partner to Launch Licensed AI Music Platform

This is Beirut 16:35 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Music Universal AI Copyright US Culture

Recording industry giant Universal Music Group said Thursday it had struck a licensing deal with AI music generation startup Udio, in an industry-first tie-up aiming to launch an AI creation platform next year. Universal and Udio said in a statement that their platform, as yet unnamed, "will be powered by new cutting-edge generative AI technology ...

Behind Bars, On Screen: Inside the San Quentin Film Festival

This is Beirut 14:00 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Film Festival Prison Hollywood Redemption Culture

Held inside a notorious prison among some of California's most dangerous felons, the San Quentin Film Festival is not your typical Hollywood affair. Red-carpet interviews take place just yards (meters) away from a now dormant execution chamber where hundreds of death-row inmates met grisly ends. Convicted murderers sit alongside famous actors ...

SpotlightCharlotte Gainsbourg Returns Under the Spell of a 'Blurry Moon'

Marie-Christine Tayah 11:00 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Charlotte Gainsbourg Single Music Culture Art France

With her new single Blurry Moon, released in September 2025, Charlotte Gainsbourg marks a magnetic and deeply personal return to music. Produced by Saint Laurent and SebastiAn, the track blends elegance, restraint, and emotional clarity. The music is elevated by a video that is both artfully stylized and strikingly simple, a visual mirror of the ...

ExplainerBenching: Keeping the Other on Hold

David Sahyoun 29/10 18:00 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

Benching Psychoanalysis Culture Relationship

In the new digital dictionary, we are learning to decode, “to bench” means keeping someone on the sidelines, like a player who is sent neither off the field nor fully into the game, but kept warmed up, available, and waiting. Benching is not the radical severing of connection seen in ghosting, nor the deliberate freezing of icing. It belongs ...

Swiss Town Returns Sacred Artefacts to South Africa

This is Beirut 29/10 11:00 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Culture Art Artefacts Switzerland Africa Neuchâtel

The Swiss town of Neuchâtel on Tuesday handed over to South Africa three artefacts that had spent more than a century in one of its museums. The set of 30 divining bones in a woven basket, a bull's foot bone used as an amulet, and a walking staff were purchased by Swiss missionary and ethnographer Henri-Alexandre Junod. The items came from the ...

Behind the Blockbusters: Paramount Skydance to Cut 1,000 Jobs After Merger

This is Beirut 28/10 18:00 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Entertainment Paramount Skydance Merger Layoffs Hollywood US Culture

Paramount Skydance will cut about 1,000 jobs on Wednesday, a source close to the matter told AFP Monday, less than three months after the merger of the two media giants. The company did not immediately respond to a request to confirm the layoffs. Skydance completed its $8 billion acquisition of Paramount in August, and executives warned at the ...

Prunella Scales, Star of Britain’s 'Fawlty Towers', Dies Peacefully at 93

This is Beirut 28/10 15:05 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Television Prunella Scales Obituary UK actress Britain Culture

Actress Prunella Scales, best known for her role as the long-suffering Sybil in the British TV comedy classic Fawlty Towers, has died aged 93, her family said Tuesday. The actress died "peacefully at home in London" on Monday, her sons Samuel and Joseph said. "She was watching Fawlty Towers the day before she died," they said in a statement on ...

Paul McCartney Reflects on Life and Music after Beatles

This is Beirut 28/10 13:00 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Paul McCartney Music Documentary The Beatles Culture Cinema

A new documentary about Paul McCartney’s solo career after The Beatles’ breakup will be released on February 25, 2026, on Amazon Prime Video, following a limited theatrical run, according to a statement released Monday. The film, available in 240 countries and territories worldwide, features rare archival footage that captures the period when ...

Legendary Jazz Drummer Jack DeJohnette Dies at 83

This is Beirut 28/10 10:00 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Jazz Music Heritage Drummer Jack DeJohnette Culture

US jazz drummer Jack DeJohnette, a major figure in modern jazz who collaborated with Miles Davis and Keith Jarrett, has died at 83, his management said on Monday. "It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Jack DeJohnette. He died peacefully in Kingston Hospital, NY. He was surrounded by his wife, family, and close friends," a post on ...

Serbian Theater Festival in Turmoil over Censorship Claims

This is Beirut 27/10 19:50 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Theater Culture Art Belgrade

Allegations of censorship threw a major theater festival in Serbia into turmoil on Monday, as the government faces increasing complaints it is stifling dissent while trying to face down long-running protests. Artists claim the Belgrade International Theater Festival (BITEF), long regarded as an outlet for free expression, is now under political ...

Bjorn Andresen, Remembered for 'Death in Venice', Dies After Cancer Battle

This is Beirut 27/10 15:35 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Film Obituary Bjorn Andresen Sweden Actor Culture

Bjorn Andresen, a Swedish actor known for his performance in Luchino Visconti's award-winning Death in Venice (1971), has died at the age of 70, an associate told AFP Monday. At the age of 15, Andresen was approached by the Italian director, who was searching for an actor to play Tadzio, a beautiful adolescent who composer Gustav von Aschenbach, ...