Culture

With 'Mother', Mitevska Restores Mother Teresa’s Humanity

Who was the real Mother Teresa? In Mother, Macedonian director Teona Strugar Mitevska reexamines the legend to reveal a woman far beyond the clichés. Premiering in the Orizzonti section at the 2025 Venice Film Festival, the movie focuses on seven pivotal days in 1948 that forever changed Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, the woman who would become Mother ...

US R&B Singer Joins Russia’s Intervision Revival in Moscow

An American R&B artist will take part in Russia's revival of a song contest billed as a rival to Eurovision, which has excluded Russian singers since the Ukraine offensive, organizers said Thursday. Brandon Howard, known professionally as B. Howard, is mostly famous for his resemblance to Michael Jackson—sparking media speculation in the past ...

Adidas Apologizes for Cultural Misstep Over Mexican Sandals

Sportswear giant Adidas apologized to an Indigenous community in Mexico Thursday for using their traditional sandals as inspiration for a new design, after an outcry by officials and President Claudia Sheinbaum. Local authorities had complained that the Oaxaca Slip-On sandals were a reinterpretation of huarache sandals, particularly one found ...

Agnès Varda’s Paris: Intimacy, Poetry, and Eternal Street Life

Paris’s backdrop transformed into a mirror, a playground, and a living studio for Agnès Varda, where life and art were inseparable. The exhibition Le Paris d’Agnès Varda, de-ci, de-là reveals Varda as a photographer, far from the film set yet already shaped by the eye that made her one of cinema’s boldest pioneers. At the heart of this ...

Sweden Moves Iconic Arctic Church Amid Mine Expansion

A historic red wooden church considered one of Sweden's most beautiful buildings resumed its slow move across the Arctic town of Kiruna on Wednesday, inching toward its new home to allow Europe's biggest underground mine to expand. Kiruna's entire town center is being relocated because of the giant LKAB iron ore mine that dominates the region, ...

Fading Faces: Why Young Hindu Women in Pakistan Are Abandoning Traditional Tattoos

Grinding charcoal with a few drops of goat’s milk, 60-year-old Basran Jogi peers at the faces of two young Pakistani sisters preparing for their first tattoos. The practice of elder women needling delicate shapes onto the faces, hands, and arms of younger generations stretches back centuries in the Hindu villages that dot the southern border ...

'Ketamine Queen' to Plead Guilty in Matthew Perry's Death

A dealer dubbed the "Ketamine Queen" has agreed to plead guilty to supplying the drugs that killed Friends’ actor Matthew Perry, the US Department of Justice said Monday. Jasveen Sangha, 42, will admit several charges, including one of distribution of ketamine resulting in death or serious bodily injury in relation to the late star. Sangha, ...

Downton Abbey Fans Cherish Iconic Props Before Final Farewell

As Downton Abbey draws to a close in September, some fans took solace by getting close to memorable props and costumes from the much-loved British saga as they went on sale Monday. Everyone has their favorite piece, including Charlie Thomas of London's Bonhams auction house which is holding the sale. He had no hesitation in highlighting the ...

From Raves to Roots: Saudi Arabia Spotlights its Heritage

First, deeply religious Saudi Arabia opened its doors to Western raves and music festivals. Now it's turning to long-neglected Saudi traditions as it seeks to draw tourists and reshape its national identity. In Terhal, a lavish stage show in Riyadh, an actor in a red-and-white headdress gallops on a white horse, exploring the kingdom's heritage ...

'Weapons' Rules North American Box Office for Second Week

Buzzy horror film Weapons won the North American box office for a second week running with $25 million in ticket sales, industry estimates showed Sunday. The Warner Bros. movie starring Julia Garner (Ozark) and Josh Brolin (Avengers: Infinity War) tells the story of the mysterious disappearance of a group of children from the same school ...

Terence Stamp, Screen Legend and 'Superman'’s Zod, Died at 87

The London actor from a working-class background, born on July 22, 1938, had his first breakthrough in Peter Ustinov's Billy Budd. His performance as a dashing young sailor hanged for killing one of his crewmates earned him an Oscar nomination and a Golden Globe for Best New Actor. Carving out a niche for his alluring depictions of brooding ...