This is Beirut

Mulatu Astatke’s Timeless Ethio-Jazz Legacy Continues Worldwide

This is Beirut, 18/04 10:00 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Mulatu Astatke struggled for decades before his name became associated worldwide with a musical genre, and he was finally born as the father of Ethio-jazz. Now, despite that long journey and his 81 years of age, the Ethiopian music legend cannot even "think about retirement." A one-man band, equally at home with the vibraphone and the conga, a ...

Christian Lacroix Reveals His True Calling in Costumes

This is Beirut, 17/04 10:30 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Fashion France Christian Lacroix Paris Luxury Art

He describes himself as an “impostor” in haute couture: at 73, Christian Lacroix is now fully dedicated to what he calls his “real profession”—that of a costume designer. His flamboyant style, shaped by fashion history, folklore, and painting, now finds its true expression on the stage. “As a child, I thought in terms of costumes, of ...

Peru Pays Final Tribute to Literary Giant Vargas Llosa

This is Beirut, 15/04 15:00 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Culture Art Peru Mario Vargas Llosa Writer

The Peruvian flag flew at half-staff Monday as the South American country marked the passing of literary great Mario Vargas Llosa with a day of national mourning. Tributes poured in from around the world as President Dina Boluarte attended a private wake at the Vargas Llosa family home for the novelist and Nobel laureate, who died there Sunday ...

'A Minecraft Movie' Breaks Records, Tops Box Office Again

This is Beirut, 14/04 14:00 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Movies Cinema Culture Art US

A Minecraft Movie easily held on to the top spot in North American theaters this weekend with estimated ticket sales of a solid $80.6 million, analysts said Sunday. That was roughly half the total of its huge opening last weekend. But with $281 million in domestic ticket sales to date, along with $269 million internationally, Minecraft has set ...

Five Fascinating Things to Know About Expo 2025 Osaka

This is Beirut, 14/04 10:00 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Osaka Japan Expo 2025 Exhibition Art Culture

A multi-eyed mascot, a vast wooden Grand Ring, 160 countries and regions strutting their stuff, and robots and sushi galore: Expo 2025 began on Sunday in Osaka, Japan. The World Expo is held every five years in different global locations. Here are five things to know about this event, which runs until mid-October. Grand Ring Encircling dozens of ...

Disneyland Paris Unveils First Fully Transformed Studio Building

This is Beirut, 13/04 14:00 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Disney Premiere Paris Disneyland Culture Art

Disneyland Paris will open to the public on May 15 the newly redesigned “World Premiere,” a fully reimagined building and the first step in the massive renovation of its second park, Walt Disney Studios, which is set to double in size. The American group The Walt Disney Company announced in 2018 a large-scale expansion and transformation plan ...

Lady Gaga, Missy Elliott Set Coachella on Fire

This is Beirut, 12/04 18:00 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Music Festival Culture Art

The California desert was buzzing Friday as the premier music festival Coachella got underway, with Lady Gaga and Missy Elliott set to helm day one's main stage. Thousands of music fans traversed the sprawling grounds whipping paper fans and wielding parasols, as temperatures cracked the 100-degree Fahrenheit mark (37.8 degrees Celsius). That ...

Ellen Pompeo Reinvents Herself in Chilling New Series

This is Beirut, 12/04 15:00 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Series Art Film Psychology Thriller

After 20 years saving lives in the title role of Grey’s Anatomy, actress Ellen Pompeo makes a dramatic career shift in Good American Family, a tense series inspired by true events where she plays a disturbing adoptive mother — a “big challenge” she had long been hoping for. Already airing in the United States since March and arriving ...

‘My Favorite Cake’, Awarded Abroad but Censored in Iran

This is Beirut, 12/04 10:30 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Iran Censorship Cannes Film Cinema Art

The Iranian directors of the film My Favorite Cake, praised in both France and the United States, have been sentenced to suspended prison terms, according to an independent legal website and a human rights NGO. Maryam Moghadam and Behtash Sanaeeha, already recognized in 2020 for Ballad of a White Cow, were prosecuted for “propaganda against ...

EU Ban Triggers Sweden's Textile Waste Crisis Surge

This is Beirut, 11/04 18:00 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Sweden Recycling Art Fashion

Sweden's recycling centers are overflowing with clothes after an EU-wide ban this year on throwing away textiles, leaving overwhelmed municipalities eager to have fast fashion giants take responsibility. "It's a huge amount coming in every day. It's been crazy, it's a huge increase," said Brian Kelly, secretary general of the Artikel2 charity ...

Edwardian Glamour and Royal Splendor at Buckingham Palace

This is Beirut, 11/04 10:30 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Museum Exhibition Art Culture Buckingham Palace

Elegance, opulence, and hedonism—an exceptional exhibition in London retraces the Edwardian era before World War I through the lives of Queen Alexandra and King Edward VII, during a time of great transformation. The exhibition, The Edwardians: Age of Elegance, opens Friday at Buckingham Palace and runs through November 23. It brings together ...

Luxury Perfume Bottles Go Electric in France’s Glass Valley

This is Beirut, 09/04 10:30 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Perfume Art Culture Heritage Luxury

In rapid succession, molten drops of glass fall into molds, giving shape to iconic perfume bottles from Lancôme, Chanel, and Guerlain—now produced with a lighter carbon footprint thanks to a new electric furnace at the Pochet du Courval glassworks in Normandy. An intense heat surrounds the furnace, which continuously melts a mix of raw ...

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