The first feature film to touch on the Paris jihadist attacks premiered Friday at the Venice film festival just months after another was pulled over protests by survivors.

"Amanda" tells the story of a young man who is left to look after his seven-year-old niece after her mother is killed in an attack on a Paris park.

Although the attack itself is fictional, the film by French director Mikhael Hers draws on the shock and trauma in the French capital after the November 13, 2015, massacres in which 130 people died.

French public television was forced in December to put on ice a controversial love story starring Sandrine Bonnaire set on the night of the killings at the Bataclan concert venue.

Although "Ce soir-la" (That Night) had by then finished shooting, executives promised it would not be shown until all of the survivors and families of victims were consulted following protests.

Claire Peltier, the partner of one the people murdered at the Eagles of Death Metal concert, had set up a petition calling for the "scandalous" film to be shelved.

She said it was far too soon for "such a painful" story to be revisited.

But the makers of the new film told AFP that "Amanda" is not directly about the 2015 attacks but rather about the trauma they created in those left behind.

Hers insisted that he wanted to "bear witness to the Paris of today" and the movie only "comes partly from the attacks".

"The attacks had a powerful impact on people. Unconsciously there's the fear of a shooting whenever you hear a loud bang; there's a hazy tremor of insecurity when you're on a cafe terrace or in a crowded public place," he added.

- Did not talk to survivors -

"There's as great a chance as ever of dying in a road accident but it's a new feature of daily life."

The producers admitted that Hers did not "sit down and talk to the survivors one-on-one but he read all their official testimonies."

"He didn't want to make a direct comparison between his characters and the experiences of the victims," a spokesman told AFP.

Hers said the film "fits into a much bigger picture of a period when people are tormented by an awareness of our fragility."

Sociologist Gerome Truc, author of "Shell Shocked: the Social Response to Terrorist Attacks", who worked with the film, said it was more a portrait of the "Bataclan generation" in post-attacks Paris.

While the aftermath of a fictional attack in Paris is briefly shown, the film is "about all terrorist attacks and the ordeal that an attack represents," he said.

The main focus of the story is the relationships between the young uncle and his niece (Vincent Lacoste and Isaure Multrier), and his wounded musician girlfriend played by Stacey Martin.

"The story of David and Amanda is set in Paris, but it could be London, Baghdad or Bombay," Truc said.

Netflix screened a documentary mini-series, "Attack on Paris", in May based on testimony from dozens of survivors, and the bestseller "You Will Not Have My Hate", a moving rebuke to the attackers by Antoine Leiris, the husband of one of the victims, has been adapted for the stage.

France's biggest international star Gerard Depardieu on Thursday issued a strong denial after it emerged he faces an inquiry into allegations by a young actress of rape and sexual assault.

Depardieu "absolutely denies any attack, any rape", his lawyer Hervé Temime said on his behalf, reacting to news that the Paris public prosecutor's office has opened a preliminary inquiry over alleged "rapes and sexual assaults".

The probe follows a complaint lodged on Monday in southern Provence, according to a judicial source.

French radio RTL said the allegations were made by a 22-year-old actress, who says she was attacked in Depardieu's Paris residence.

"I regret the public nature of this process which poses a major prejudice to Gerard Depardieu, whose innocence I am convinced will be recognised," his lawyer Temime added, calling for restraint on all sides.

A prolific actor having made more than 180 films, Depardieu is known as a larger-than-life character with a life-long penchant for making headlines.

In 2013 he sparked a huge outcry by leaving France and taking Russian nationality in protest at a proposed tax hike on the rich in his homeland.

Russian President Vladimir Putin treated him to a dinner to present him with his new citizenship and Depardieu was subsequently full of praise for the Russian strongman in an interview with the local press.

French star Gerard Depardieu "absolutely denies any attack, any rape", his lawyer said on Thursday after a judicial source told AFP he was facing a probe over alleged "rapes and sexual assaults".

The source said the Paris public prosecutor's office had opened a preliminary inquiry into allegations against Depardieu following a complaint lodged on Monday in southern Aix-en-Provence.

"I regret the public nature of this process which poses a major prejudice to Gerard Depardieu, whose innocence I am convinced will be recognised," his lawyer Herve Termime added, calling for restraint on all sides.

Depardieu, 69, is France's biggest international star and has made more than 180 films.

A controversial and larger-than-life character, he became the very face of French cinema due to roles in films such as such as "Cyrano de Bergerac" for which won best actor at the Cannes film festival and was nominated for an Oscar.

He made his name in the 1974 film "Going Places" after which he enjoyed a meteoric rise, demonstrating talent and allure in wide-ranging roles in classics, dramas and comedies alike.

In 2013 Depardieu sparked a huge outcry by leaving France and taking Russian nationality in protest at a proposed tax hike on the rich in his homeland.

Russian President Vladimir Putin treated him to a dinner to present him with his new citizenship and Depardieu was subsequently full of praise in an interview to Komsomolskaya Pravda daily.

testing from boss good

 All eyes will be on Hollywood Tuesday as the Oscars nominees are unveiled, with "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri" ahead by a nose in an awards season overshadowed by the industry's war on sleaze.

In a departure from previous years, there are very few clear frontrunners for the March 4 gala, making the major categories a genuine sprint to the finish line rather than the perfunctory coronation sometimes inflicted on viewers.

The announcements are also being seen as an opportunity for the industry to support female filmmaking, with the #MeToo and Time's Up campaigns against sexual misconduct and gender inequality a mainstay of the 2018 awards circuit.

After 12 months of breakthrough movies by women about women -- led by directors such as Dee Rees, Patty Jenkins and Greta Gerwig -- the Oscars could also right the historic wrong of female filmmakers rarely getting acknowledged.

"Whatever happens, the #MeToo movement will... play a big part in the event," predicted Tom Wood, a film writer for the millennial-skewing viral content portal Lad Bible.

"Hollywood is still being rocked by allegations of historical sexual abuse from some huge names and they will be looking to grow the movement to empower victims to speak out against their abusers and raise awareness."

- 'Three Billboards' -

The nominated movies, actors and filmmakers will be unveiled at a pre-dawn announcement, with industry watchers placing "Three Billboards" -- buoyed by strong showings at the Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild Awards -- in pole position for best film.

The movie, about a campaign for justice waged by "the Dirty Harry of grieving mothers" -- hat tip to Vanity Fair for a clever turn of phrase -- is also favorite to win best actress (Frances McDormand) and supporting actor (Sam Rockwell).

But the movie faces stiff competition from Gerwig's coming-of-age tale "Lady Bird" and Guillermo del Toro's fantasy romance "The Shape of Water."

In a year when the top awards could be relatively evenly spread, expect same-sex romance "Call Me by Your Name," dark satire "Get Out," tense war movie "Dunkirk" and Pentagon Papers thriller "The Post" all to be in the mix too.

Tuesday's nominations follow weekend awards ceremonies hosted by the guilds of both producers and actors -- ceremonies seen as bellwethers for the Academy Awards.

"The Shape of Water," a 1960s-set fairy tale about a mute government laboratory janitor falling in love with a merman-like creature, was deemed best movie by the Producers Guild and picked up best director for Del Toro at January's Golden Globes.

But the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) gave the victory for best cast -- deemed as encouraging a signifier for the best picture Oscar as the producers' endorsement -- to "Three Billboards."

Sunday's SAGs also rewarded Gary Oldman ("Darkest Hour") and Allison Janney ("I, Tonya'), as well as McDormand and Rockwell for "Three Billboards," all of whom took home trophies from the Globes or the Critics' Choice Awards.

Janney and Rockwell should expect strong competition in the Oscars supporting acting categories from Globes nominees Willem Dafoe ("The Florida Project") and Laurie Metcalf ("Lady Bird").

- 'A lot can happen' -

Oldman -- perhaps the only clear leader in the major categories -- has remained the firm lead actor frontrunner for weeks, while McDormand and Sally Hawkins ("The Shape of Water") face a photo finish in March.

Tempting as it always is by late January to view the Oscars race as done and dusted, there are invariably twists in the final weeks as movies lose momentum or are tainted by scandal.

Allegations, ranging from harassment to rape, have dogged Hollywood since October, leading to the downfall of numerous powerful figures including Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey, Jeffrey Tambor and Brett Ratner.

Figures tainted by the scandal such as James Franco ("The Disaster Artist") have seen their Oscars campaigns badly damaged or, in the case of Spacey -- who was expunged from "All the Money in the World" after filming was completed -- wiped out entirely.

Meanwhile, stars attending the various Tinseltown ceremonies -- whether through defiant acceptance speeches at the podium or sober attire on the red carpet -- have been careful to send a message that Hollywood is no longer tolerating sleaze.

Roughly 6,000 members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences -- a more diverse bunch than the old white men's club maligned in previous years -- stopped voting for nominees on January 12.

"The point is, there's a very long phase two still ahead, two weeks longer than usual due to the Winter Olympics," Variety magazine's awards editor Kris Tapley wrote on Sunday.

"A lot can happen. Final Oscar ballots are due in 37 days -- an eternity."

Source: AFP

"Transformers: The Last Knight" led the pack with nine nominations Monday for the Razzies, Hollywood's anti-awards celebrating the worst films of 2017.

The fifth installment of the Transformers franchise was tapped in the categories of worst picture; worst remake, rip-off or sequel; worst screenplay and worst screen combo.

It also netted nods for worst director (Michael Bay), worst actor (Mark Wahlberg), worst supporting actor (Josh Duhamel and Anthony Hopkins), and worst supporting actress (Laura Haddock).

The other worst picture nominees were "Baywatch," "The Emoji Movie," "The Mummy" and "Fifty Shades Darker" -- with the steamy film sequel based on E.L. James's bestselling "mommy porn" novels just trailing "Transformers" with eight Razzie nods.

Jennifer Lawrence, Emma Watson, Tom Cruise, Johnny Depp, Javier Bardem, Russell Crowe, Mel Gibson, Kim Basinger and Susan Sarandon were among stars given the dubious honor of being nominated for a Golden Raspberry.

Wahlberg, who was named the world's highest paid actor in August, was recognized for terrible acting in not just "Transformers," but also "Daddy's Home 2."

The nominations were unveiled in a tongue-in-cheek, Cold War-themed YouTube video titled "How to protect humanity from Razzie toxic waste."

"Hazardous waste is generated from many sources, ranging from the industry's lack of original content, recycled scripts -- usually from a stable of hack writers -- derivative dialogue, phone-in performances and brilliant studio bean counters overseeing the entire process from cradle to a quick grave," the video said.

The Razzies were created in 1980 as an antidote to Hollywood's star-studded back-slapping annual awards season.

The "winners" of the Razzies will be announced on March 3, the eve of the Oscars.

Source: AFP

Minnie Mouse was honored with a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame Monday, with her eternal sidekick Mickey by her side.

In her red and white polka-dot dress and bright yellow heels, the giggly cartoon favorite was recognized a full four decades after Mickey.

Chinese music fans are bracing for a crackdown on hip hop after a rapper was apparently dropped from a popular singing programme, as reports emerged that the government had soured on the often-provocative genre.

Hip hop is a late arrival to China's cultural scene but homegrown artists have steadily gained fans, getting a major boost over the past year thanks to singing-contest reality programmes showcasing their talent.

But rappers have recently raised hackles with vulgar or edgy lyrics, and fans fear hip hop has become the latest target of an escalating crackdown on content deemed potentially threatening to the ruling Communist Party.

On Friday social media began circulating a government order apparently issued to Chinese broadcasters banning them from giving air time to "artists with tattoos, hip hop music" and other performers who are "in conflict with the party's core values and morals".

Popular portal Sina.com said the directive came from Gao Changli, a top official with the government agency that oversees the media. The order has not been officially released.

But a rapper known as GAI, who has nearly four million followers on China's Twitter-like Weibo platform, was suddenly absent from Friday's airing of the popular reality show "Singer".

GAI is now no longer featured as one of the contestants, prompting online speculation that he was a casualty of the new rules.

"This is a sign that hip hop will be banned," said one of many comments on Weibo.

- 'Cultural regression' -

"Although some of it is rubbish, hip hop itself is not wrong. Its core spirit is still positive... Hip hop has just emerged and now it is being rudely banned. Isn't this cultural regression?"

Other postings ridiculed the government's media watchdog agency.

"How many examples of fine culture and excellent works have had their value twisted by the hands of this idiotic agency? I'm ashamed of your behaviour," said one.

Chinese hip hop entered the national spotlight last year with the debut season of the wildly popular "The Rap of China", an internet-based reality-show rapping competition.

The show, which finished its first season in September, accumulated nearly three billion online "views".

But China's emerging hip hop subculture seemed destined to run afoul of the Communist Party, which has dramatically tightened its grip on free expression under President Xi Jinping.

In an ongoing crackdown on expression, the media, internet and the arts, vulgar or provocative content is out, while patriotic and "harmonious" content -- code for pro-party propaganda -- is in.

Last summer a rapper from the southwestern city of Chengdu known as "Fat Shady" drew attention with a song called "Stupid Foreigners", a profanity-laced rant against foreigners living in China.

Two weeks ago PG One, one of China's best-known rappers, apologised after he came under fire from official media. They highlighted lyrics from one of his songs in which he boasts obscenely about forcing himself on a woman and appears to promote drug use.

There is now rising online speculation over whether "The Rap of China" -- which vaulted several contestants to fame and helped them land recording contracts -- would be allowed back for a second season.

Predictions of the show's demise have been fuelled by reports that the latest instalment of a nationwide concert tour based on the programme was cancelled over the weekend in the central city of Wuhan, with organisers blaming unspecified "unavoidable factors".

Source: AFP

American painter and sculptor Jack Whitten has died at the age of 78, his gallery announced on Sunday.

The black artist was known for continually evolving over his five-decade career -- from painting to sculpture and from figurative to abstract.

Born in Bessemer, Alabama on December 5, 1939, he grew up in the segregationist south of the United States, where he was an activist in the civil rights struggle, before moving to New York in 1960.

His early work evoked the racism experienced by African Americans, but it was his abstract pieces that won greater renown in the art world, particularly in his later years.

Determined to constantly push his own limits, he left the brush to work with razor blades, Afro-combs or household squeegees.

"Delta Group II," which features in the Metropolitan Museum of New York collection, is one example.

"With a career grazing the 50-year mark, Jack Whitten is still making work that looks like no one else's, which is saying something, given the flood of abstract painting in New York in the past few years," the New York Times art critic Holland Cotter observed in 2013.

The Baltimore Museum of Art has dedicated a retrospective of his work, which will run from April 22 to July 29, before heading to the Metropolitan Museum of Art from September 6 to December 2.

Marc Payot, a partner and vice-president at Hauser & Wirth gallery where Whitten's work is displayed, said: "He was a remarkable man -- an artist of endless inventiveness, originality, and honesty, as well as a wonderful friend."

Source: AFP

Black comedy crime story "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri" could dominate at Sunday's Screen Actors Guild Awards, a bellwether for the Oscars.

The movie took four nods in three categories -- best ensemble cast, best lead actress (Frances McDormand), and best supporting actor (Woody Harrelson and Sam Rockwell).

Joining "Three Billboards" in the running for best cast -- the SAG's top award -- are romantic comedy "The Big Sick," racial satire "Get Out," offbeat dramedy "Lady Bird" and civil rights drama "Mudbound."

On the TV side, three series were tied at the top with four nominations each: HBO drama "Big Little Lies" and -- including the stunt team nominations -- Netflix sci-fi thriller "Stranger Things" and wrestling comedy "Glow."

SAG nominations are the second major announcement in Tinseltown's glittering awards season, which climaxes with the Academy Awards in March.

Guillermo del Toro's acclaimed 1960s-set fantasy romance "The Shape of Water" led the Golden Globe nominations with seven but picked up just two SAG nods.

"Three Billboards," starring McDormand as a mother seeking to avenge the rape and murder of her daughter, picked up six Globes nods and has been has a top Oscars contender since taking the influential audience award at the Toronto International Film Festival in September.

While far less flashy than the Globes, the SAG awards are seen as more of an indicator of Oscars glory.

Members represent some 1,200 of the roughly 6,000 voters for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

The awards were being closely watched this year as they come with Hollywood engulfed in the worst sexual misconduct scandal in its history.

Allegations from harassment to rape have sparked the downfall of numerous powerful industry players, from movie mogul Harvey Weinstein to actors Kevin Spacey, Jeffrey Tambor and Louis C.K. to filmmaker Brett Ratner.

In the best actor category on the film side, Timothee Chalamet ("Call Me by Your Name") faces competition from James Franco ("The Disaster Artist"), Daniel Kaluuya ("Get Out"), Gary Oldman ("Darkest Hour") and Denzel Washington ("Roman J. Israel, Esq.").

For best actress, McDormand faces off against Judi Dench ("Victoria and Abdul"), Sally Hawkins ("The Shape of Water"), Margot Robbie ("I, Tonya") and Saoirse Ronan ("Lady Bird").

Source: AFP

Guillermo del Toro's fantasy romance "The Shape of Water" took home best movie at the Producers Guild Awards on Saturday, putting it in pole position for Oscars glory in March.

The movie bested leading Academy Awards contenders including "Call Me by Your Name," "Dunkirk," "Get Out," "I, Tonya" and "Lady Bird."

In a crowded field, it also saw off "The Big Sick," "Molly's Game," "The Post," "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri," and "Wonder Woman."

The 1960s-set fairytale about a mute government laboratory janitor falling in love with a merman-like creature won best director for Del Toro at the Golden Globes, considered a dry-run for the Oscars.

It also has 12 nominations for February's BAFTAs, Britain's version of the Oscars, and is expected to do well when nominees for the actual Academy Awards are announced on Tuesday.

The 53-year-old filmmaker, who co-produced alongside J. Miles Dale, was not there to pick up his trophy due to having gone to his sick father's bedside in Mexico.

In one of the ceremony's highlights, "Get Out" director and producer Jordan Peele was recognized for making a film that raises awareness of social issues and talked about "the sunken place," the term used for the hypnotic, brainwashed state that traps victims in his movie.

"The sunken place is the system that silences the voice of women, minorities, and of other people," he said in politically charged speech condemning President Donald Trump for derogatory comments about Haiti, Africa and black football stars kneeling during the national anthem.

"Every day there is proof that we are in the sunken place," he added.

"Coco" -- Pixar's love letter to Mexico based on the country's Day of the Dead festival -- won best animated picture, the first prize of the night handed out at the Beverly Hilton.

"Now is the time for more diversity in our culture and in our world," said producer Darla K. Anderson, dedicating the award to the people of Mexico.

In the TV section, Hulu's "The Handmaid's Tale" won best television drama, while fellow internet streaming service Amazon bagged best episodic comedy for "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel."

"The Handmaid's Tale," based on Margaret Atwood's dystopian 1985 novel of the same name, has been the darling of recent awards ceremonies, winning eight Emmys and two Golden Globes.

The PGA has boasted a solid record of giving top honors to movies that go on to earn best picture honors at the Oscars.

The trend has been bucked somewhat recently, however, with last year's best film award going to "La La Land," which lost out to "Moonlight" at the Oscars.

Financial crisis comedy "The Big Short" took the top prize at 2016's PGAs, but lost out to "Spotlight" for the Academy Award.

The Oscars ceremony is staged on March 4, hosted by late night funnyman Jimmy Kimmel.

Source: AFP

More than 30 years after Mick "Crocodile" Dundee delighted audiences by wrestling wild animals and facing down New York muggers with his massive knife, a reboot is in the works.

"Dundee: The Son of A Legend Returns Home," the fourth film in the $600 million "Crocodile Dundee" franchise, will star Danny McBride as Brian Dundee, the son no one knew Mick Dundee had.

"I'm not going to lie to you, to be a real Crocodile Dundee, I think 95 percent of it is the vest and then five percent is just being able to not fall down and stay on your feet," said McBride in a statement released by Australian production house Rimfire Films.

The company, which produced the original film and its first sequel, said the movie was slated for release in the summer.

Paul Hogan, who co-founded Rimfire, became a global box office sensation in 1986 as Dundee, the atavistic Outback hillbilly with the iconic Akubra hat, in what remains the most commercially successful Australian feature ever.

"'Crocodile Dundee' is a film that has stood the test of time. It was a defining moment in my life and one of my proudest accomplishments," said Hogan.

"Throughout the past few years, I've been thinking about how to bring Dundee to a new generation. I'm excited to introduce the new Crocodile Dundee to the world and look forward to sharing more news about those involved very soon."

Source: AFP

Kim Kardashian and rapper Kanye West have called their third child Chicago, the reality star announced Friday, opening the floodgates to hefty doses of mockery and consternation on social media.

Kardashian West announced the name on her app, later suggesting the little girl already has a nickname. "North, Saint and Chi," she tweeted to her 58.4 million followers -- to be pronounced "Shy" the 37-year-old later clarified.

The couple already have daughter North West, four, and son, Saint, two.

Little Chicago was born via a surrogate on Monday weighing 7.6 pounds (3.3 kilograms).

Kardashian West and West, 40, who married in a lavish ceremony in Italy in May 2014, have been dogged by rumors of trouble in paradise recently amid gossip-press speculation that their marriage is on the rocks.

Kardashian West ranks 47 on Forbes' celebrity 100 ranking of highest-paid entertainers with pretax earnings of $45.5 million.

Celebrity website TMZ said the couple chose a surrogate after Kardashian suffered from a serious condition in which the placenta becomes too deeply attached to the wall of the uterus during her second pregnancy, making a third pregnancy too risky.

TMZ said the couple paid the surrogate $45,000, banning her from smoking, taking drugs, hot baths, dying her hair and eating raw fish during the pregnancy.

Source: AFP

A former employee has accused Michael Douglas of sexual harassment and misconduct in her presence, charges the Oscar-winning Hollywood megastar has vehemently denied.

Douglas, 73, is the latest big-name celebrity accused of seamy behavior since a sexual harassment watershed began with the downfall of movie mogul Harvey Weinstein in 2017.

The actor -- Hollywood royalty as the son of actor Kirk Douglas -- "thought he was the king of the world and that he could humiliate me without any repercussion," writer Susan Braudy told NBC News in an interview.

Braudy has accused the double Oscar-winner of using sexually charged language and commenting on her body during the three years she worked at the actor's New York office of Stonebridge Productions in the 1980s.

Braudy said his abusive behavior culminated in 1989 during a work session in his apartment at the height of his career, after he starred in hit movies including "Wall Street" and "Fatal Attraction."

Douglas "slid down the floor, unbuckled his belt and put his hand inside his trousers and I could see what he was doing," Braudy told NBC.

She said he then "sort of began to fondle himself, and I was very scared."

Braudy, the author of two non-fiction books, said that she told several friends about the incident -- and they urged her to stay quiet.

"One of my friends said you better not tell people about him. People were frightened for me," she told NBC.

- 'Disgruntled' employee? -

Douglas got ahead of the allegations before they appeared in public, describing them to The Hollywood Reporter as "an unfortunate and complete fabrication."

The actor told celebrity website Deadline in a January 9 interview: "I can't believe that someone would cause someone else pain like this."

"Maybe she is disgruntled her career didn't go the way she hoped and she is holding this grudge," he said.

Douglas said that Braudy had never complained -- something she denied, even though she acknowledged never reporting the behavior to the police because she said she did not realize at the time that it could be considered criminal behavior.

Douglas's second wife, Catherine Zeta-Jones, whom he married in 2000, addressed the allegations in a guest appearance on ABC talk show "The View."

She said she supported "110 percent" the Time's Up and #MeToo movements against sexual misconduct.

"Michael came out with that preemptive statement. He was articulate, he said it from the heart, was honest, open and transparent. He now has to take the next step for where he goes from here," she said.

"It happened 30 years ago, it was 'B.C.' -- before Catherine," she added to laughs.

On Friday, the Producers Guild of America published guidelines designed to prevent sexual harassment cases in the movie industry.

"As producers, we provide key leadership in creating and sustaining work environments built on mutual respect, so it is our obligation to change our culture and eradicate this abuse," the PGA said in guidelines that went out to its 8,200 members.

Source: AFP

India's top court on Friday upheld the acquittal of a Bollywood director accused of raping an American research scholar in a case that has sparked intense debate about consent in a country with high levels of sexual violence.

Mahmood Farooqui was initially found guilty of rape in 2016, but the Delhi high court last year overturned the conviction on appeal, ruling the incident had been consensual.

One of the judges hearing that appeal said Farooqui may not have been aware that the woman had not consented to sex, a comment that attracted fierce criticism from rights activists.

"In cases where the parties are known to each other, it could be really difficult to decipher whether a feeble 'no' – little or no resistance – actually amounts to denial of consent," said Justice Ashutosh Kumar.

The alleged victim sought to appeal, but the Supreme Court on Friday dismissed her plea, saying the acquittal had been sound.

"The high court judgement is well written. It does not require our interference," said S.A. Bobde, one of the judges hearing the case.

Activist Kavita Krishnan said Friday's ruling was a "betrayal of women's rights" and of the new, tougher laws on sexual violence introduced after the fatal gang rape of a Delhi student in 2012.

"If you made a drink for a man, our Supreme Court thinks your No can then be read as Yes," tweeted Krishnan, secretary of the All India Progressive Women's Association.

"SC refusal to even admit the plea against atrocious 'Feeble No' verdict is a betrayal of women's rights and of the 2013 rape law."

The case dates back to 2015 when the scholar had travelled to India to seek Farooqui's assistance with her research.

She travelled home to the US shortly afterwards but returned to India to report the matter to police.

India has a grim record of sexual crimes against women, with nearly 39,000 rape cases reported in 2016, according to government data.

The 2012 Delhi gang rape sparked mass protests and led to an overhaul of rape laws that increased penalties for offenders and accelerated trials through courts.

But activists say much more needs to be done.

Source: AFP

 Note to action movie directors: you probably don't need to tell Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson -- juvenile crack dealer turned multi-millionnaire rapper and movie star -- how to take a bullet.

It was a liberty first-time filmmaker Christian Gudegast felt comfortable taking, however, during the filming of Jackson's latest movie, gritty heist thriller "Den of Thieves."

"There's a point where I get shot in the film, and I did it and Christian was like, 'No, you didn't do that the right way," Jackson recalled at a press event for the movie in Beverly Hills.

"I was like, 'Trust me, I know what I'm doing.'"

Jackson, raised on the mean streets of Queens by his grandmother after his drug dealer mother's death in a mystery fire, knows all about how it feels to get shot, of course.

On a May evening 18 years ago, he was hit nine times at close range by a drive-by gunman wielding a semi-automatic pistol in the South Jamaica area of Queens.

Shot in the hand, arm, legs, chest, hip and left cheek, he eventually made an unlikely full recovery while the alleged assailant was killed three weeks later.

"After I got shot nine times at close range and didn't die, I started to think that I must have a purpose in life," Jackson would later reflect in his autobiography.

Empowered and newly motivated, he left his criminal past behind, started pumping iron seriously and became the health-conscious, entertainment tycoon we know today.

Most famous for hit hip hop tracks "In Da Club" and "Candy Shop," the soft-spoken Jackson has become as much a worldwide brand as an actor and musician.

- Complex family life -

"Den of Thieves," his 24th movie, follows the intersecting lives of the major crimes unit of the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department and the "Outlaws," an elite band of robbers.

The 42-year-old gives a laconic, brooding performance as a disciplined father-of-five who has managed to demarcate his family life and criminal career as the Outlaws' second-in-command.

In real life, Jackson has been frank about his complicated family situation, reportedly paying $12,000 a month on child support for his two younger children.

He is estranged from his older son Marquise, publicly disowning him via an Instagram post in October last year, and the pair have sparred on social media.

In "Den of Thieves," Jackson gets to deliver one of the movie's rare humorous moments as the overprotective father who uses the Outlaws to intimidate the boy taking his teenage daughter to the prom.

"Whether you have a female child or not, you can use your imagination and say if that was my daughter, she'd be my little princess," Jackson tells AFP, asked if the scene made him reflect on his own role as a father.

Every member of the main cast were put through a grueling two-week boot camp before filming began in Atlanta to give them a comprehensive understanding of the weapons and how to move with them.

This, of course, would have been a cinch for Jackson, famed for his granite-hard six-pack, and a punishing gym regimen that includes going twice on Sundays.

He is famous for shedding a quarter of his fighting weight of 214 pounds via a nine-week liquid diet to play an athlete who battles cancer in "All Things Fall Apart" (2011).

- Bankruptcy -

One suspects that Jackson wouldn't be too happy piling it on for a role, but he insists he would not only do it if the part required, but would enjoy it too.

"I'd have to go away so people didn't see me for a (while). I think I could pull it off... though it would kill me trying to come back from that," he says.

Jackson rose to fame with his record-shattering debut "Get Rich or Die Tryin'" -- one of the fastest selling albums in history that has shifted more than 30 million units.

His movie career has included roles in Antoine Fuqua's boxing drama "Southpaw" alongside Jake Gyllenhaal and in "Spy," with Melissa McCarthy.

Meanwhile his business empire has taken in footwear and apparel, fragrances, video games, publishing, vodka, health drinks, Casper mattresses and health supplements.

Estimated in 2015 to be worth $155 million, he filed for bankruptcy, telling a court his flashy lifestyle was a facade, with his expensive jewelry and cars rented.

Next up for the entertainer, as he rebuilds his fortune, is a sequel to his 2013 movie "Escape Plan," which will see him reunited with Sylvester Stallone.

Woody Allen, the director and four-time Oscar winner known for his comedies rife with neurotic characters, is in the crosshairs of America's sexual harassment watershed over decades-old claims that he molested his daughter.

The 82-year-old New Yorker -- who averages a movie a year, clocking up more than 50 titles total -- is considered a comic genius by fans and envied by fellow filmmakers for wresting freedom from studios, though he is not always adored by critics.

For more than 25 years, unproven allegations that he molested his adopted daughter when she was seven -- as well as a relationship with his ex-lover's adopted daughter from a previous marriage -- have colored a career now more lauded in Europe than at home.

Born Allen Konigsberg on December 1, 1935, to a New York family of second generation Jewish immigrants, Allen spent much of his Brooklyn childhood alone in his room, practicing magic tricks or playing the clarinet.

He was reportedly hired while a teenager to write one-liners for well-known comedians, and then kicked out of film studies at New York University. He worked as a stand-up comic and wrote for television in the late 1950s and early 1960s before moving into film.

"From the beginning, I dreamed of being Godard, Fellini, Truffaut or Resnais. Together with Bergman and Antonioni, these are the filmmakers who made me want to do this job," he told French weekly Le Nouvel Observateur in 2014.

As a screenwriter, actor and director, he has won four Oscars and been nominated an astonishing 20 times in a career that has often blurred with his personal life.

It was with one-time partner Diane Keaton that he made some of his most popular films, including romantic comedies "Annie Hall" and "Manhattan."

- 'Insensitive' -

Then Mia Farrow, with whom Allen had a 12-year relationship, appeared in 13 of his movies, including "Hannah and Her Sisters" -- one of his greatest commercial successes.

But their relationship exploded in 1992 when Farrow discovered Allen had a stash of nude photographs of Soon-Yi, whom she had adopted during a previous marriage to pianist Andre Previn. Soon-Yi was 21 at the time.

Allen and Soon-Yi married and are still together. They have two children.

But in the midst of the toxic custody battle, Dylan Farrow claimed he had sexually assaulted her.

A New York judge ruled the allegations inconclusive, but lambasted the director as "self-absorbed, untrustworthy and insensitive."

Allen has always denied the claims and continued to work with generations of A-listers -- recently with Kate Winslet and Justin Timberlake for his 2017 movie "Wonder Wheel."

Showered with awards in Europe, Allen once described his relationship with Hollywood as love-contempt. He has regularly accused studios of pandering to the lowest common denominator and being driven by purely commercial concerns.

- 'Witch hunt' -

Online giant Amazon has bankrolled recent movies and commissioned television series "Crisis in Six Scenes" starring Miley Cyrus.

But the sexual harassment firestorm, fueled by a bombshell expose of alleged rape and other abuses by Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein, written by Allen's biological son, has seen a growing number of actors say they will no longer work with the director.

The Washington Post this month published an article claiming that Allen's 57-year personal archives at Princeton University show jottings filled with misogynist and lecherous comments, and an obsession with teenage girls.

Actors have recently spoken out in support of Dylan Farrow. Selena Gomez, Rebecca Hall and Timothee Chalamet have donated their salaries from his movies to charities.

In her first television interview, Dylan Farrow tearfully described her father this week as a liar.

Allen hit back, accusing his ex-lover's family of "cynically using the opportunity afforded by the Time's Up movement to repeat this discredited allegation."

Last October, he was criticized for saying he felt "sad" for Weinstein and cautioning against a "witch hunt atmosphere" in which "every guy in an office who winks at a woman is suddenly having to call a lawyer to defend himself."

This week, Allen was the guy defending himself.

Source: AFP

Peter Mayle, who wrote the best-selling memoir "A Year In Provence", has died at the age of 78, his publishers announced.

Following a short illness, the British author died on Thursday in a hospital near his beloved home in southern France, publishing house Alfred A. Knopf said.

"A Year In Provence", about Mayle's first 12 months after relocating to the south of France, was released in 1990 with an initial print run of 3,000.

The witty tale of moving into a 200-year-old stone farmhouse in the lavender-scented, remote countryside, and adapting to the slower Provencal way of life, went on to sell six million copies in 40 languages.

Its infectious warmth for the south of France and the local lifestyle and culture fired up the imaginations of thousands of Britons and others to seek the same romantic dream.

Alfred A. Knopf announced on Twitter late Thursday that Mayle, who had written "multiple best-selling books about life in Provence, died early today at a hospital near his home in the south of France".

Mayle wrote several follow-on books, including "Toujours Provence" and "Encore Provence".

Film director Ridley Scott, his friend and neighbour, directed the 2006 film "A Good Year", starring Russell Crowe and Marion Cotillard, which was based on Mayle's book of the same name.

"It was all that humorous competitive spirit between the French and the English that Peter captured brilliantly," Scott told BBC radio.

"It was quite true about the French -- and it was quite true about the British."

He was made a knight in France's Legion d'Honneur in 2002 for his services to French culture.

"Peter was a very kind and successful man... You could feel whatever he did, whatever he touched was going to work," Scott said.

- 'Happy where I am' -

Mayle started out writing a series of educational works for children, such as sex education books including "Where Did I Come From?".

The writer, who for millions of Britons epitomised the "European dream" of living in the sun, told AFP in 2016 that the UK's exit from the EU was a "disaster for them and for Europe.

"I am sad for the future of my English friends," said Mayle, who took French nationality as Britain's EU membership referendum approached.

In September 2016, he reflected on his website of ways in which both he, and Provence, had changed or stayed the same, 25 years since his landmark memoir came out.

"I am still easily lured from my desk by interesting distractions," he wrote.

"A wine tasting, a promising young chef, the rumour of truffles to be found under a nearby oak, a murky hammam in Marseille, a vicious game of petanque in the village and, of course, the spectacle of daily life as seen from the cafe terrace.

"I don't want to go anywhere else. I'm happy where I am. That, I suppose, is contentment, and I shall always be grateful to the literary accident known as 'A Year In Provence' for helping me to achieve it."

Mayle died in a hospital close to the village of Vaugines, where he had his home.

At the height of his fame, Mayle bought another home in Long Island, New York, in order to avoid the hordes of tourists that came to see his French house.

"We had people coming up the drive from Japan, from Australia, from Germany, from Sweden, from England, from America," he told the Baltimore Sun in 1996.

Source: AFP

Woody Allen faced widening isolation Friday over allegations that he molested his daughter more than 25 years ago, after Colin Firth joined the list of actors saying he would not work with the director again.

Allen's estranged, adopted daughter Dylan Farrow has revived claims that he sexually assaulted her as a seven-year-old in 1992, asking the world to finally believe her as the sexual harassment watershed convulses America.

On Thursday, Farrow aired her first television interview as 82-year-old Allen hit back, accusing his ex-lover's family of "cynically" exploiting the Time's Up movement to repeat "discredited" allegations.

After the interview broadcast, Oscar-winning Firth became the latest actor and arguably the most high-profile to publicly rebuke Allen, telling the Guardian newspaper: "I wouldn't work with him again."

Firth starred in Allen's 2014 film "Magic in the Moonlight," shot before Farrow detailed the alleged abuse for the first time in her own words in an open letter published on a New York Times blog in 2014.

Her claim first surfaced in the midst of her parents' bitter split, when Allen left the actress Mia Farrow for her adoptive daughter from a previous marriage, Soon-Yi Previn, 21 years old at the time.

Allen -- the director of more than 50 movies, a four-times Oscar winner and showered with awards in Europe -- has always denied the allegations, which have never been proven. He continues to enjoy a glittering career and remains married to Soon-Yi.

But the sexual harassment firestorm that has brought down Hollywood titans such as Harvey Weinstein, has seen many reassess Farrow's claims and has fueled a growing backlash against Allen.

- 'He's lying' -

In recent weeks, actresses including Greta Gerwig, Rebecca Hall, Ellen Page and Mira Sorvino, have announced they regret working with Allen.

Oscar-winner Natalie Portman also told Oprah Winfrey in a televised interview with other actresses that she believed Farrow.

"He's lying and he's been lying for so long," Farrow told "CBS This Morning" in the interview that aired Thursday, breaking down into tears when watching a clip of Allen denying the alleged assault.

Now a 32-year-old married mother of a young girl, Farrow said in retrospect she wished the case had gone to trial.

"Honestly, yes. I do wish that they had," she told CBS. A Connecticut state prosecutor at the time found probable cause to charge Allen but thought Farrow too fragile to face a celebrity trial.

Farrow says Allen took her to a small attic crawl space, instructed her to lay down on her stomach and play with her brother's toy train, while he sat behind in the doorway and touched her private parts.

"He was always touching me, cuddling me and if I ever said, you know, like I want to go off by myself, he wouldn't let me," she told CBS.

- 'Culture of silence' -

"He often asked me to get into bed with him when he had only his underwear on and sometimes when only I had my underwear on," she added.

Allen said the alleged molestation had been "thoroughly investigated" by the Child Sexual Abuse Clinic of the Yale-New Haven Hospital and New York State Child Welfare and that both "concluded that no molestation had ever taken place."

"Instead, they found it likely a vulnerable child had been coached to tell the story by her angry mother during a contentious breakup," he said.

"What I don't understand is how is this crazy story of me being brainwashed and coached more believable than what I'm saying about being sexually assaulted by my father?" hit back Farrow.

The New York judge who presided over the 1994 custody battle between Allen and Mia Farrow ruled that the allegations were inconclusive, but at the same time lambasted the director as "self-absorbed, untrustworthy and insensitive."

Hall and the actor Timothee Chalamet, who appear in Allen's upcoming movie "A Rainy Day in New York," have announced that they will donate their salaries from the film to charities including the Time's Up movement. Selena Gomez, who stars in the same movie, has already reportedly donated a fee larger than her salary to charity.

Farrow, who has called out celebrities who have starred in Allen's films, denied to CBS that she was angry with them.

Instead she expressed hope that they could "maybe hold themselves accountable to how they have perpetuated this culture of -- of silence in their industry."

Source: AFP

The Lebanese government has allowed the release of Steven Spielberg's latest film, "The Post", overturning a ban by the General Security authority, a ministry said Wednesday.

The security body had on Monday announced it was banning the Hollywood thriller to comply with an Arab League boycott targeting supporters of Israel.

In a rare move, the interior ministry chose not to sign off on the decision by General Security, which in addition to controlling Lebanon's borders, is responsible for censoring films, plays, and books.

In a statement, it said Interior Minister Nohad Mashnouk "sees no objection to the broadcast of the film", which "has no connection with Lebanon, or to the conflict with the Israeli enemy".

The company distributing the film in Lebanon confirmed that the film, starring Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks, would be released in cinemas in Beirut and elsewhere on Thursday.

The acclaimed production tells the behind-the-scenes story of the 1971 publication by The Washington Post of the Pentagon Papers, which exposed the lies behind US involvement in the Vietnam War.

Lebanon is divided on the boycott-driven bans, with some welcoming them as a bulwark against the "cultural normalisation" of Israel's occupation.

Banned films can often be found in bootleg movie shops across the country for as little as one dollar, and even blacklisted books can sometimes be found in regular bookstores.

Source: AFP

French film legend Brigitte Bardot attacked the #MeToo movement Wednesday, claiming that actresses who complain of sexual harassment were just looking for publicity.

"The vast majority are being hypocritical and ridiculous," she told the French magazine Paris Match.

"Lots of actresses try to play the tease with producers to get a role. And then, so we will talk about them, they say they were harassed," declared the 83-year-old Bardot.

"I was never the victim of sexual harassment. And I found it charming when men told me that I was beautiful or I had a nice little backside," said the actress, who became a sex symbol overnight for "And God Created Woman" in 1956.

Her comments come a week after fellow French star Catherine Deneuve sparked a worldwide feminist backlash by defending men's right to "hit on" women.

She signed an open letter by 100 prominent women that claimed that #MeToo had become a puritanical "witch-hunt" which threatened sexual freedom.

It also inferred that women fondled on public transport should just get over it.

But Deneuve later distanced herself from some of the other signatories after one claimed that women can orgasm during rape.

- 'Distrustful of the human race' -

The 74-year-old went on to apologise to victims of sexual assault, saying there was "nothing good" about harassment.

Bardot, who ended her film career in 1973 so she could dedicate herself to her animal rights charity, has a long history of provoking feminists.

Yet she admitted to the magazine that she has not digested what happened to her when she was at the height of her fame in the 1960s, and her love life made international headlines.

"I still find it difficult to understand what happened to me," she said. "That uncontrollable time made me very distrustful of the human race."

Bardot said she "has almost no contact these days with the entertainment industry" other than phone calls from her old friends like veteran actor Alain Delon.

Instead she looks after her six cats, nine dogs and some 50 other animals at her farm and animal sanctuary near the French Riviera resort of Saint Tropez.

She said that when she is gone she wants to be known as the "animals' fairy godmother".

A supporter of the far-right National Front, Bardot said she prefers the late pope John Paul II to Pope Francis and prays to the Virgin Mary, which she calls "my little Virgin".

But she said that if she was reincarnated she would be like to be a "mustang, that wild and free horse of the American West".

Source: AFP

Reality star Kim Kardashian and her rapper husband Kanye West Tuesday announced the birth of their third child, a baby girl who was born via a surrogate.

"She is here! We're so in love," Kardashian, 37, wrote in a post on her website which she then shared with her 58.3 million Twitter followers.

In a brief message, she wrote that their "healthy, beautiful" daughter was born Monday at 12:47 AM local time, weighing 7.6 pounds (3.3 kilograms). The baby girl's name was not announced.

"We are incredibly grateful to our surrogate who made our dreams come true with the greatest gift one could give and to our wonderful doctors and nurses for their special care," said Kardashian.

"North and Saint are especially thrilled to welcome their baby sister," she added.

Kardashian and West married in May 2014, and already have two children: daughter North, 4, and 2-year-old son Saint.

The couple chose to use a surrogate as Kardashian suffered from placenta accreta -- a serious condition where the placenta becomes too deeply attached to the wall of the uterus -- during her second pregnancy, making a third pregnancy too risky, according to celebrity website TMZ.

TMZ also reported that the Wests paid $45,000 to the surrogate -- who was banned from smoking and taking drugs as well as taking hot baths, dying her hair and eating raw fish during the pregnancy.

Source: AFP

"Grey's Anatomy" star Ellen Pompeo has made a deal to appear in two more seasons of the highly popular show that will earn her $20 million per year, making her the highest-paid actress in a television drama.

Pompeo, who stars in the medical drama as Meredith Grey, told The Hollywood Reporter that she will earn $575,000 an episode for seasons 15 and 16, under a deal signed late last year.

She will also get a signing bonus and a percentage of the show's profits bringing her total earnings to over $20 million per year.

"I'm 48 now, so I've finally gotten to the place where I'm OK asking for what I deserve, which is something that comes only with age," Pompeo wrote in a first-person article for the industry magazine.

"I'm not necessarily perceived as successful, either, but a 24-year-old actress with a few big movies is, even though she's probably being paid shit — certainly less than her male co-star and probably with no backend," she added, weighing in on the heated issue of pay equality in Hollywood.

"If we're going to invoke change, that has to be part of it."

She also recounts a meeting with disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein: she says she went up to his room in New York, and an assistant was present.

"He didn't try anything on me," she notes, while adding that had he done so, she would have "picked up a vase and cracked him" over the head.

"My goal in that room was to charm him, as it is in most rooms like that. You think, 'Not only do I have to show that I'm a good actress, but that director also has to in some way fall in love with me and at least become enamored with me,'" she recounted.

"That never felt right or good to me."

ABC confirmed the agreement of two more seasons to AFP -- but would not comment on the figures.

First broadcast in 2005, the medical drama series -- set in a fictional Seattle hospital -- recently passed its 300th episode, and still enjoys high ratings.

"The show will go on as long as Ellen wants to do it," the show's creator Shonda Rhimes, also behind "Scandal," told the Reporter.

According to Forbes magazine, the best-paid television actress is Sofia Vergara of ABC's long-running comedy "Modern Family" -- earning $41.5 million per season -- followed by Kaley Cuoco, who is paid $26 million for her role in "The Big Bang Theory" on CBS.

Vergara earns more than double her male co-stars, while Cuoco is paid at the same level as hers, according to Forbes.

Source: AFP

A cinema in northern Israel is to be named after Israeli-born Hollywood celeb Gal Gadot, star of the blockbuster hit "Wonder Woman", the town of Upper Nazareth said Tuesday.

"We are going to name the new cinema after Gal Gadot, an Israeli actress who brings honour to this country," municipal spokeswoman Orna Yosef told AFP.

"This is a message for our young people because Gal Gadot is an example of success, who has shown that dreams can be attained."

Gadot, 32, won the Miss Israel beauty pageant in 2004 aged 18.

After her two-year compulsory military service she went into modelling and then films, breaking into Hollywood with a role in 2009's "Fast and Furious."

She now lives in Los Angeles.

Last year, Lebanon and Tunisia banned "Wonder Woman" because of Gadot's Israeli army service.

The Gal Cinema, which will have two screens, will open officially on Wednesday with a showing of Israeli director Eran Riklis's thriller "Shelter".

Upper Nazareth was founded in 1956 adjacent to biblical Nazareth, the largest Arab city in Israel.

Upper Nazareth's population of 50,000 is 80 percent Jewish, with the remainder made up of Muslim and Christian Arabs.

Israeli daily Yediot Aharanot said that cinema closures in the area meant that until now residents were obliged to make a round-trip of around 80 kilometres (50 miles) to see a film in the coastal city of Haifa.

Source: AFP

Cranberries singer Dolores O'Riordan, who died in London on Monday at the age of 46, was about to record a version of her hit "Zombie" with the hard rock band Bad Wolves, the group said on Tuesday.

"We are shocked and saddened at the news of Dolores's passing, mere hours before she was to record vocals on our upcoming version of Zombie," the band said in a message on Facebook post late on Monday.

The band's singer Tommy Vext said: "We always felt the rawness and honesty she projected on stage and in her recordings was something to which all bands should aspire to, regardless of genre.

"When we heard she liked our version and wanted to sing on it, it was the greatest compliment a new band, or any band for that matter, could have received," he said.

Music producer Dan Waite, a friend of O'Riordan's, said she had left him a voice message shortly before her death "stating how much she loved the Bad Wolves's version of Zombie; she was looking forward to seeing me in the studio and recording vocals.

"She sounded full of life, was joking and excited to see me and my wife this week. The news of her passing is devastating," he said.

Police said they were called to a hotel in Park Lane in the centre of the British capital at 0905 GMT on Monday and the death was being treated as "unexplained" as an investigation continues.

Source: AFP

US comedian Aziz Ansari has responded to an allegation of sexual misconduct, saying that he said that he thought the encounter was ‘completely consensual’.

The star of Netflix series Master of None and NBC’s Parks & Recreation, was accused of repeatedly trying to initiate sex with a woman he went on a date with, despite her repeated signals that she did not want to.

The woman, who told the story under the pseudonym Grace to the website Babe, said that afterwards she felt that Ansari’s aggressive and persistent behaviour constituted a ‘sexual assault’.

In a statement, Ansari said: “In September of last year, I met a woman at a party. We exchanged numbers. We texted back and forth and eventually went on a date. We went out to dinner, and afterwards we ended up engaging in sexual activity, which by all indications was completely consensual.

“The next day, I got a text from her saying that although ‘it may have seemed okay,’ upon further reflection, she felt uncomfortable. It was true that everything did seem okay to me, so when I heard that it was not the case for her, I was surprised and concerned. I took her words to heart and responded privately after taking the time to process what she had said.

“I continue to support the movement that is happening in our culture. It is necessary and long overdue.”

Grace, a 23-year-old photographer from Brooklyn, said that she was taken to an upscale restaurant by Ansari after meeting him at an after-party for the 2017 Emmy Awards.

However, on returning to his apartment, she says that he became insistent on having sex with her, despite her becoming uncomfortable with the situation.

“I know I was physically giving off cues that I wasn’t interested. I don’t think that was noticed at all, or if it was, it was ignored,” she said.

“I didn’t leave because I think I was stunned and shocked. This was not what I expected. I’d seen some of his shows and read excerpts from his book and I was not expecting a bad night at all, much less a violating night and a painful one.

“I cried the whole ride home. At that point I felt violated. That last hour was so out of my hand.

“It took a really long time for me to validate this as sexual assault. I was debating if this was an awkward sexual experience or sexual assault. And that’s why I confronted so many of my friends and listened to what they had to say, because I wanted validation that it was actually bad.”

She also provided the site with a screenshot of a text exchange between her and Ansari a few days after their date.

Source: AFP

US comedian Aziz Ansari has responded to an allegation of sexual misconduct, saying that he said that he thought the encounter was ‘completely consensual’.

The star of Netflix series Master of None and NBC’s Parks & Recreation, was accused of repeatedly trying to initiate sex with a woman he went on a date with, despite her repeated signals that she did not want to.

The woman, who told the story under the pseudonym Grace to the website Babe, said that afterwards she felt that Ansari’s aggressive and persistent behaviour constituted a ‘sexual assault’.

In a statement, Ansari said: “In September of last year, I met a woman at a party. We exchanged numbers. We texted back and forth and eventually went on a date. We went out to dinner, and afterwards we ended up engaging in sexual activity, which by all indications was completely consensual.

“The next day, I got a text from her saying that although ‘it may have seemed okay,’ upon further reflection, she felt uncomfortable. It was true that everything did seem okay to me, so when I heard that it was not the case for her, I was surprised and concerned. I took her words to heart and responded privately after taking the time to process what she had said.

“I continue to support the movement that is happening in our culture. It is necessary and long overdue.”

Grace, a 23-year-old photographer from Brooklyn, said that she was taken to an upscale restaurant by Ansari after meeting him at an after-party for the 2017 Emmy Awards.

However, on returning to his apartment, she says that he became insistent on having sex with her, despite her becoming uncomfortable with the situation.

“I know I was physically giving off cues that I wasn’t interested. I don’t think that was noticed at all, or if it was, it was ignored,” she said.

“I didn’t leave because I think I was stunned and shocked. This was not what I expected. I’d seen some of his shows and read excerpts from his book and I was not expecting a bad night at all, much less a violating night and a painful one.

“I cried the whole ride home. At that point I felt violated. That last hour was so out of my hand.

“It took a really long time for me to validate this as sexual assault. I was debating if this was an awkward sexual experience or sexual assault. And that’s why I confronted so many of my friends and listened to what they had to say, because I wanted validation that it was actually bad.”

She also provided the site with a screenshot of a text exchange between her and Ansari a few days after their date.

Source: AFP

Irish singer-songwriter Dolores O'Riordan, frontwoman of the multi-million selling rock band The Cranberries, died suddenly in London on Monday, aged 46, her publicist said.

"Irish and international singer Dolores O'Riordan has died suddenly in London today, family members are devastated," Lindsey Holmes said in a statement.

"The lead singer...was in London for a short recording session," she added. "No further details are available at this time."

A spokeswoman for London's Metropolitan police said officers are "dealing with a sudden death" after they were called to a hotel in Park Lane, in the centre of the British capital, at 0905 GMT this morning.

She did not confirm the identity of the person found.

"A woman in her mid-40s was pronounced dead at the scene," the spokeswoman said.

"At this early stage it is being treated as unexplained and enquiries continue," she added.

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar was among the first to pay tributes, calling O’Riordan "the voice of a generation".

"For anyone who grew up in Ireland in the 1990s, the Cranberries were an iconic band, who captured all of the angst that came with your teenager years," he said in a statement.

"Her voice and her contribution to music will be remembered far beyond her native county for many years to come."

- Family 'very devastated' -

The London Hilton on Park Lane confirmed "with deep regret" that an unnamed guest had "sadly passed away" at its hotel.

"Team members acted swiftly to alert the Metropolitan Police and we are co-operating fully with their investigation," a spokeswoman said.

The Cranberries achieved international success in the 1990s with their debut album "Everyone Else is Doing it, So Why Can't We?", which included the hit single "Linger".

Follow-up album "No Need to Argue" went to number one in Australia, France and Germany, and number 6 in the United States.

The album also gave rise to politically-charged single "Zombie", an angry response to the deadly Northern Ireland conflict, which hit number one across Europe. The band sold around 40 million records worldwide.

O'Riordan, from Friarstown in the Irish county of Limerick, will be buried in Ireland, according to the parish priest in her home town.

James Walton, priest at Ballybricken and Bohermore parish, told Britain's Press Association her family "is very devastated and upset".

"Her family are still waiting for more details to come from London about her death," he said.

"The plan is for her to be buried here at home. When that will be will depend on when her body is released."

- 'Immense influence on rock' -

The Cranberries, formed in 1989 but went on a hiatus in 2003.

O'Riordon told AFP in a 2012 interview that "we were stuck in a rut. We just needed a break."

She headed to Canada, where she gave birth to her third child, but The Cranberries reformed in 2009 after getting together for a one-off show.

"At home I'm a house-keeper and a mum. The kids are, like, 'What's for dinner? Where are my clothes?'. On tour it's, like: 'room-service'," she said of the comeback.

She hit the headlines in 2014 after pleading guilty to assaulting three police officers and a flight attendant during a flight from New York to Ireland, and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder shortly afterwards.

The band was forced to cancel 14 concerts last year due to "medical reasons associated with a back problem" for O'Riordan.

The singer's last Facebook posting came shortly before Christmas.

"Hi All, Dolores here. Feeling good! I did my first bit of gigging in months at the weekend, performed a few songs at the Billboard annual staff holiday party in New York with the house band," it read.

"Really enjoyed it! Happy Christmas to all our fans!! Xo".

The band recently played in South America, with O'Riordan tweeting pictures of a show in Lima, Peru.

O'Riordan married Don Burton, former tour manager of Duran Duran, in 1994 but the couple, who had three children together, divorced in 2014.

British 1980s band Duran Duran posted on their official Twitter page that "we are crushed to hear the news about the passing of Dolores O'Riordan. Our thoughts go out to her family at this terrible time".

The Cranberries released their final album "Something Else" last year

Dennis Rodman, a five-time NBA champion and sometime buddy of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, was released from jail on Sunday after being detained overnight on suspicion of driving under the influence, police said.

Rodman, 56, was stopped at 11:11 pm Saturday for a vehicle violation, said Police Lieutenant Rachel Johnson in Newport Beach, California, south of Los Angeles.

TMZ reported that Rodman failed a field sobriety test and was taken to the station, where he failed an alcohol breathalyzer test as well.

Johnson said Rodman was cooperative with police and was released shortly after 6 am.

"Dennis is taking this seriously and will take positive steps to address his personal issues," Rodman's lawyer, Paul S. Meyer, said in a statement to the New York Daily News. "He appreciates the professionalism of the Newport Beach Police Department."

Rodman, a two-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year, pleaded guilty to driving under the influence in 1999.

He played 14 seasons in the NBA with the Detroit Pistons, San Antonio Spurs, Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks before retiring in 2000.

Last year, Rodman made headlines when he travelled to Asia hoping to arrange a trip to North Korea in a bid to "alleviate some of the pressures as far as communication between the US and North Korea."

Rodman has made multiple visits to North Korea, where he has spent time with the country's leader Kim -- a long-time fan of the Bulls.

"I basically hang out with him all the time, we laugh, we sing karaoke, we do a lot of cool things together," Rodman said in a 2017 British television interview.

He is also friendly with US President Donald Trump -- who once fired Rodman on the reality television show "Celebrity Apprentice".

In December he told AFP in an interview in Beijing that Kim and Trump "are pretty much the same people."

"They love control," Rodman said, but added that warnings of nuclear peril because of the bellicose language between the two were overblown.

"Ain't nobody got no finger on the button," Rodman said.

Source: AFP

 A Bollywood epic about a legendary Hindu queen will finally be released next week despite months of violent protests, Indian filmmakers have confirmed.

"Padmaavat" was initially due to hit screens in December. But producers Viacom18 Motion Pictures delayed the release following protests sparked by speculation that it would depict a romantic liaison between the queen and the 13th and 14th century Muslim ruler Alauddin Khilji.

Politicians had threatened to ban the film for distorting historical facts, even though historians say the queen, Padmavati, is a mythical character.

It will hit screens on January 25 after censors cleared it for release subject to five changes, the producers announced late Sunday.

Full-page advertisements appeared in Indian newspapers Monday saying the film portrayed the legendary queen "with utmost respect".

Film-makers say the movie is based on a work of fiction by a 16th-century Sufi poet, the epic entitled "Padmaavat".

The movie's title has been changed from "Padmavati" to "Padmaavat", possibly to reflect the fact it is based on the work.

The film first ran into opposition in January 2017 when protesters attacked director Sanjay Leela Bhansali and vandalised the set during filming in Rajasthan.

Protesters attacked another set near Mumbai in March, burning costumes and other props.

They stepped up demonstrations in November last year, including making a death threat against the lead actress Deepika Padukone and against the director Bhansali.

India's Hindi film industry churns out hundreds of movies every year but filmmakers often face intimidation from fringe groups.

Critics say the censorship board acts in an overzealous way, fuelling fears over creative freedom in the country.

Ministers in Rajasthan, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh have said the film will not be shown in those states.

The movie stars Shahid Kapoor as Maharawal Ratan Singh, the husband of Padmavati, and Ranveer Singh as Khilji who leads an invasion to try to capture the queen.

Source: AFP

Saudi Arabia began screening feature-length animated children’s films this weekend in a makeshift theater, after a 35-year-old ban on cinemas was lifted in the conservative Islamic kingdom.
The first permanent theaters could open as early as March, part of a liberalising reform drive that has already opened the door to concerts, comedy shows and women drivers over the past year.
For now, the authorities are sponsoring temporary settings, like the state-run cultural hall in the Red Sea city of Jeddah equipped with a projector, a red carpet and a popcorn machine.
“Until now, there is no infrastructure for movie theaters, so we are trying to take advantage of (alternative) venues to approximate the cinematic form,” said Mamdouh Salim, whose Cinema 70 brand organized the week-long screenings.
“We tried to use these films to be a starting point as the first cinematic screening after the decision on Dec. 11 to permit movie theaters.”
Cinemas were banned in the early 1980s under pressure from Islamists as Saudi society turned toward a particularly conservative form of religion that discouraged public entertainment and public mixing between men and women.
But reforms led by 32-year-old Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman have eased many of those restrictions, as the government tries to broaden the economy and lessen its dependence on oil.
In a nod to conservatives, films will be censored to make sure they remain in line with the kingdom’s “moral values.”

More fun
After watching The Emoji Movie with his wife and daughter on Sunday evening, 28-year-old Sultan Al-Otaibi said Saudis are happy to see movies in the theater instead of staying at home.
“It’s more comfortable, more fun to have a change of scenery and an activity on the weekend. It is a step that was very late in coming but thank God it’s happening now.”
Thousands of Saudis currently travel to Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and other countries for entertainment. The government wants to retain the money spent on those trips.
The authorities expect to open 300 cinemas with 2,000 screens by 2030, building an industry it hopes will contribute more then 90 billion riyals ($24 billion) to the economy and create 30,000 permanent jobs.
Regional and international cinema chains are also eyeing the Saudi market, keen to tap the spending power of the young people who make up roughly 70 percent of the population.
“I want to see everything because it is something new for Saudi,” said 30-year-old movie-goer Ibtisam Abu Talib. “I hope everything is available — action, romance, children’s films, comedy. Everything, God willing.”

Source: arabnews

Salvador Meza has been making guitars since he was a boy, but his leathery hands have never had to churn them out as fast as now—thanks to the hit movie “Coco.”

Meza, 41, is one of many renowned guitar-makers in the Mexican town of Paracho, which has been producing artfully crafted guitars since the 18th century.

But the sleepy colonial town has never seen a boom like this—all because of “Coco,” this year’s Golden Globe winner for best animated film and a box office smash that has grossed more than $500 million so far.

Set in Mexico, the movie tells the story of Miguel, a young boy who secretly longs to be a musician but is growing up in a family where music is forbidden.

Fate thrusts into his hands a white guitar encrusted with mother-of-pearl, topped with gold tuning pegs and a stylized black skull.

The skull, like the film itself, is a playful tribute to Mexico’s Day of the Dead, a festival of colorful costumes, decorations and sweets during which, according to tradition, the dead come back to visit the living.

Director Lee Unkrich has called the film a “love letter to Mexico,” and Mexico loves it back: it is the country’s highest-grossing movie of all time.

The animators at Pixar, the studio behind the film, based Miguel’s guitar on a real-life version made by an artisan from Paracho—and demand for replicas now has the town’s luthiers working in overdrive.

“I usually work out of my home with my wife and a friend. But now, I’ve had to call up my godmother, my nephew, my cousin,” said Meza through the cloud of sawdust in his workshop.

“We’re all going crazy over ‘Coco!'”

Since “Coco” had its world premiere in Mexico on October 20, Meza says he has been sleeping three hours a night and has doubled his output from 50 guitars a week to 100.

Paracho, the “guitar capital of Mexico,” makes nearly one million classical guitars a year, many exported to the United States.

Typically, they are elegant and understated masterpieces of burnished brown wood.

At least, that was the case until the town caught what guitar shop owner Maria Eugenia Gomez calls “Coco fever.”

Now, she says, she can’t keep up with demand for the flashy white guitars.

“If I had 1,000 of them, I’d sell them all,” said Gomez, 76.

‘Straight out of a movie’

The man behind the original “Coco” guitar is German Vazquez, a Paracho native who emigrated to the United States 25 years ago, slipping over the border to chase the American dream.

The state where Paracho is located, Michoacan, was until recent years swept by grisly violence unleashed by the Knights Templar drug cartel. It is among the states with the highest rates of emigration to the US.

After Vazquez crossed the border, he found work, eventually became a US citizen and finally managed to open his own guitar workshop in Los Angeles—which is where Pixar found him.

Now 64, he reminisces with a hint of nostalgia about his trek across the desert a quarter-century ago.

“It was hard. You arrive with nothing but the clothes on your back, with no money, nothing but your desire to work,” said Vazquez, a critic of US President Donald Trump’s planned border wall.

He said he sees a little bit of young Miguel in his own life’s story.

“He wants to be a musician, and he searches for a way to make it happen. He fights and fights until he achieves it. I think in that way I’m also like little Miguel… in love with guitars,” he told AFP.

Source: AFP

Mark Wahlberg is donating his $1.5 million reshoot fee for 'All The Money in the World' to Time's Up.

There was a public outcry when it was revealed that Michelle Williams was paid just one per cent of her co-star Mark's fee for reshoots on the movie, after Kevin Spacey - who was originally playing billionaire J. Paul Getty was accused of sexual misconduct and replaced by Christopher Plummer.

Sir Ridley Scott asked the actors to come back to Europe over Thanksgiving weekend last November to reshoot the necessary scenes but while Michelle was paid just $80 a day for the extra work, amounting to less than $1,000, Wahlberg's team negotiated him a fee of $1.5 million.

Williams and Wahlberg are both represented by the William Morris Endeavor agency but she was reportedly not told about the deal they had struck for Wahlberg.

However, after news of the pay deal went public, Mark announced his plan to donate his fee to the Times Up campaign, which will provide legal support to those who have experienced sexual harassment, assault, or abuse in the workplace.

He said: ''Over the last few days my reshoot fee for All The Money in the World has become an important topic of conversation. I 100 per cent support the fight for fair pay and I'm donating the $1.5 million to the Time's Up Legal Fund in Michelle Williams' name.''

And WME has also pledged $500,000, saying in a statement: ''The current conversation is a reminder that those of us in a poition of influence have a responsibility to challenge inequities, including the gender wage gap. In recognition of the pay discrepancy on All The Money In The World reshoots, WME is donating an additional $500,000 to the Time's Up Legal Fund in Michelle Williams' name, following our $1 million pledge to the organization earlier this month. It's crucial that this conversation continues within our community and we are committed to being part of the solution.''

Source: AFP