This is Beirut

Expo 2025 Visitors Endure Sweltering Night After Osaka Train Shutdown

This is Beirut, 14/08 13:40 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Expo 2025 Osaka Art Visitors Japan Culture

A sudden suspension of the sole train to Japan's Expo 2025 stranded more than 30,000 visitors, with some forced to spend a sweltering night near the station and more than 30 people sent to hospitals by Thursday morning. A power outage abruptly shut the metro line in Osaka on Wednesday night while a crowd was packed into the Expo site's ...

'I Love Peru': Raphaël Quenard’s Biting yet Poetic Mockumentary

Marie-Christine Tayah, 14/08 12:30 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Raphaël Quenard Film Cinema Cannes Culture Art

Balancing fiction and reality, I Love Peru, the feature debut co-directed by Raphaël Quenard and Hugo David, dives with humor and excess into the rise of an improbable leading man. From improvised shoots in hotel rooms to surreal sequences in Peru, the film reveals a character both grotesque and fragile. Premiering at the most recent Cannes Film ...

‘In Women’s Words:’ The Unheard Voices of Iranian Art

Marie-Christine Tayah, 13/08 14:00 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Women Iran Exhibition Culture Art Freedom

In the hushed galleries of the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art (TMoCA), colors, forms and textures speak with a force that eclipses any speech or manifesto. The exhibition In Women’s Words is more than an artistic retrospective – it is a collective voice that defies decades of silence, bringing to light stories that could not always be ...

Danielle Spencer, the 'What’s Happening!!' Star, Dies After Battle with Breast Cancer

This is Beirut, 13/08 13:10 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Actress Heritage Culture Art Death Danielle Spencer

Danielle Spencer, best known for her role as the sassy pre-teen Dee Thomas on the groundbreaking sitcom What’s Happening!!, has died at the age of 60. Spencer passed away on August 11, 2025, at a hospital in Richmond, Virginia, her former co-star Haywood Nelson confirmed. Nelson shared the news on Instagram, remembering her as “brilliant” ...

Taylor Swift Announces 12th Album for 'pre pre-order'

This is Beirut, 12/08 17:00 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Taylor Swift Tour Music Culture Art Singer

US popstar Taylor Swift announced her 12th album, titled The Life of a Showgirl, for "pre pre-order" just after midnight Tuesday in posts on her website. Her online shop displayed blurred images of a record, CD and cassette tape overlaid with a glittery orange lock, explaining the album artwork would be "revealed at a later date." A disclaimer ...

Harry and Meghan Renew Netflix Deal with Fewer Perks

This is Beirut, 12/08 13:00 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Netflix Prince Harry Meghan Markle Series Culture Art

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will continue producing film and television content for Netflix, but under a more limited arrangement, the streaming giant announced Monday. Under the revised agreement, Netflix now has the right of first refusal—meaning the platform can accept or decline a project before the couple shops it to other ...

Magic in the Vosges: Theater Takes the Forest Stage

This is Beirut, 12/08 10:30 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Theater Vosges France Spain Culture Art

An enchanting summer break surrounded by greenery and mountain views: each day, crowds flock to the Théâtre du Peuple in Bussang, a symbol of cultural decentralization, which this season is staging The Naked King by Evgeny Schwartz. By early afternoon this August Saturday, the streets of the small 1,000-person village are buzzing—cars ...

Poetry and Song Keep Oman’s Ancient Language Alive

This is Beirut, 11/08 10:30 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Oman Culture Heritage Art

Against the backdrop of southern Oman’s lush mountains, men in traditional attire chant ancient poems in an ancient language, fighting to keep alive a spoken tradition used by just two percent of the population. Sitting under a tent, poet Khalid Ahmed al-Kathiri recites the verses, while men clad in robes and headdresses echo back his words in ...

Adidas Accused of Cultural Appropriation Over Oaxaca-Inspired Sandals

This is Beirut, 10/08 10:30 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Adidas Fashion Heritage Culture Art Mexico

US fashion designer Willy Chavarria said Saturday he regrets that sandals he created together with Adidas “appropriated” a traditional design from the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca. Local authorities had complained that the Oaxaca Slip-On sandals were a “reinterpreted” model of huarache sandals, particularly one found uniquely in the ...

Fire Swiftly Contained at Cordoba’s Historic Mosque-Cathedral

This is Beirut, 09/08 12:30 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

UNESCO Architecture Culture Art History Heritage

A fire broke out in the historic mosque-turned-cathedral in Cordoba on Friday, but the monument was saved as firefighters quickly contained and then extinguished it, the Spanish city's mayor said. Widely shared videos had shown flames and smoke billowing from inside the major tourist attraction, visited by two million people per year. "The ...

Disney and Actress Gina Carano End High-Profile Legal Dispute

This is Beirut, 08/08 13:00 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Cinema Actress Disney Star Wars Culture Art

A Star Wars actor who sued Disney for firing her over inflammatory social media posts about the Holocaust, the pandemic and trans rights has reached a settlement with the Hollywood studio, the entertainment giant announced Thursday. Gina Carano, a prominent Donald Trump supporter who had a major role in the hit Disney+ series The Mandalorian ...

Scandal-Plagued Director Kechiche Returns with Festival Premiere

This is Beirut, 08/08 10:30 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Film Cinema Culture Art Abdellatif Kechiche

A new film by award-winning but scandal-prone French director Abdellatif Kechiche has been selected by a Swiss film festival, marking a comeback six years after his last widely panned feature, organizers said Tuesday. The third film of his Mektoub My Love trilogy — titled Mektoub My Love: Canto Due — is to show in competition at the Locarno ...

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