This is Beirut - Culture

Ziad Rahbani, Fairuz’s Son and Cultural Icon, Has Died

This is Beirut, 26/07 11:25 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Ziad Rahbani Music Culture Lebanon Art Heritage

Lebanon is mourning one of its most influential cultural figures. Ziad Rahbani, composer, pianist, playwright, and outspoken political commentator, has died at the age of 69. Born in 1956 to the legendary singer Fairuz and pioneering composer Assi Rahbani, Ziad grew up surrounded by music. Yet, he forged his own path, blending art, satire, and ...

TV Heroines: 10 Female Characters We Love to Hate

Bélinda Ibrahim, 25/07 19:00 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

TV Heroines Female Characters Film Culture Actresses

In the world of TV series, some female characters inspire admiration. Others trigger relentless annoyance; the kind that makes you roll your eyes every time they appear, sigh with frustration, or wish for a plotline without them. And yet, they linger, impose themselves, leave their mark. Because hating a character also means acknowledging their ...

What if Superman’s Power Was Humanity After All?

Marie-Christine Tayah, 25/07 14:30 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Superman Cinema Movie Culture Art David Corenswet

The new Superman movie, featuring new actors, is all over the place. David Corenswet stars as Clark Kent/Superman, alongside Rachel Brosnahan, Nicholas Hoult, Edi Gathegi, Anthony Carrigan, Nathan Fillion and Isabela Merced. Ranking number one internationally, the film attracts crowds eager to see their favorite hero’s new adventures. The plot ...

'Star Wars' Creator, George Lucas, Makes Epic Comic-Con Debut in San Diego

This is Beirut, 25/07 12:00 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Comic-Con Pop Culture Festival Culture Art Star Wars

Comic-Con kicked off Thursday in California, with expectations running high among devoted fans keen to catch a glimpse of George Lucas at his first-ever appearance at the convention. Warriors, princesses, pirates, wizards, and all manner of costumed characters flooded the streets of San Diego on the first day of an annual event that has become one ...

Notre-Dame Gets Back St Thomas Statue Adorning Spire Base

This is Beirut, 25/07 10:30 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Heritage Notre-Dame Cathedral Restoration Paris Culture

A statue of the apostle Saint Thomas was on Thursday returned to Notre-Dame in Paris, which has now recovered all 16 statues that adorned the base of its spire before a 2019 devastating fire. The statue, three meters tall and weighing 100 kilograms, was unaffected by the blaze, having been removed from the cathedral just days before for routine ...

Madame Tussauds Honors Taylor Swift With Record 13 Wax Figures

This is Beirut, 24/07 13:45 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Museum Taylor Swift Wax Statues Madame Tussauds Britain Culture

US pop megastar Taylor Swift will be honored with 13 waxworks of her at Madame Tussauds venues around the globe, the museum said on Wednesday. In honor of Swift's lucky number, 13 of the waxwork museum's 22 branches will each receive a statue of the Love Story and Blank Space singer, in what it called the "most ambitious project" of its 250-year ...

‘Star Wars’ Creator George Lucas Makes Comic-Con Debut

This is Beirut, 24/07 13:15 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Entertainment Comic-Con George Lucas Star Wars US Culture

Comic-Con kicks off Thursday in San Diego, California, with expectations running high among devoted fans keen to catch a glimpse of George Lucas at his first ever appearance at the convention. Other expected highlights of the gathering - one of the world's biggest celebrations of pop culture - include the world premiere of the prequel series ...

A Journey Through the Mystery of Cleopatra at the Arab World Institute in Paris

Marie-Christine Tayah, 24/07 11:00 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Cleopatra Paris Arab World Institute Exhibition Culture Egypt

Among all the women in history, Cleopatra has stood apart through her aura of mystery, her carefully cultivated image, and her lasting legacy. She has been woven into the fabric of history as both a femme fatale and a sovereign: a queen, a seductress, a shrewd politician, and an enigma. In Paris, the Arab World Institute is currently presenting ...

Doctor Pleads Guilty to Supplying Matthew Perry with Ketamine

This is Beirut, 24/07 10:30 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Matthew Perry Friends Series Death Culture Actor

A doctor charged in connection with the drug overdose death of actor Matthew Perry pleaded guilty Wednesday to supplying the Friends star with ketamine. Salvador Plasencia, 43, one of five people charged over Perry's death, pleaded guilty in a federal court in Los Angeles to four counts of distribution of ketamine. Plasencia is to be sentenced on ...

Tributes Flood in for Black Sabbath Frontman Ozzy Osbourne

This is Beirut, 23/07 16:20 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

Music Osbourne Tributes Britain Worldwide Culture

Tributes poured in Wednesday for hell-raiser singer Ozzy Osbourne as Black Sabbath bandmates mourned the death of their legendary frontman and tearful fans laid flowers in his hometown Birmingham, just weeks after he played an epic reunion concert there. Osbourne, nicknamed the "Prince of Darkness" who famously once bit off the head of a bat ...

Versailles Invades Wall Street with Poisons, Drag, and Opera

This is Beirut, 23/07 15:00 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Versailles NYC Spectacle Theater Culture Art

Acrobatics, fortune tellers, opulent gowns and palace intrigue: the New York debut of the Versailles Royal Opera Orchestra was a performance befitting the era it recalls. Monday's immersive show: The Affair of the Poisons centered on France's 17th-century period of excess and seediness that its creator, Andrew Ousley, told AFP has parallels to ...

Melania Trump May Soon Have Her Name on Opera House

This is Beirut, 23/07 14:00 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Melania Trump Donald Trump First Lady Opera House Culture Art

A House budget committee has approved an amendment that would force the Kennedy Center, Washington’s cultural institution, to rename its opera house the “First Lady Melania Trump Opera House.” The amendment is part of a 2026 Interior Department funding bill, which covers cultural affairs among other responsibilities. It threatens to strip ...

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