MARRAKECH – Thirty years ago, Palestinian actor Hiam Abbass left her home to pursue her dreams of being in the movies, joining generations of women in her family who were shaped by exile and “learned to leave everything and start anew.” That’s one of the stories told in her director daughter Lina Soualem’s documentary “Bye … Read more
NEW YORK – In an age of deepfakes and post-truth, as artificial intelligence rose and Elon Musk turned Twitter into X, the Merriam-Webster word of the year for 2023 is “authentic.” Authentic cuisine. Authentic voice. Authentic self. Authenticity as artifice. Lookups for the word are routinely heavy on the dictionary company’s site but were boosted … Read more
NEW YORK – “Get Ready with Me” — to go on a date, go to work or … get fired? “Get Ready with Me” videos are everywhere these days, and they’re as straightforward as the name suggests. Social media users, often influencers, invite viewers to watch them get ready to do something or go somewhere. … Read more
NEW YORK – Marty Krofft, a TV producer known for imaginative children’s shows such as “H.R. Pufnstuf” and primetime hits including “Donny & Marie” in the 1970s, has died in Los Angeles, his publicist said. Krofft was 86. He died Saturday of kidney failure, publicist Harlan Boll said. Krofft and his brother Sid were puppeteers … Read more
NEW YORK – The Walt Disney Co.’s “Wish” had been expected to rule the Thanksgiving weekend box office, but moviegoers instead feasted on leftovers, as “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” led ticket sales for the second weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday. Neither of the weekend’s top new releases — “Wish” … Read more
LONDON – The winner of the prestigious Booker Prize for fiction will be announced on Sunday. If bookmakers are right, the victorious writer will be named Paul. Three of the six books competing for the 50,000 pound ($63,000) award are by authors of that name: American novelist Paul Harding’s historical novel “This Other Eden,” Irish … Read more
NEW DELHI – A stampede during a music festival at a university in southern India on Saturday killed at least four students and injured 60 others, according to news agency Press Trust of India. The disaster happened at the Cochin University of Science and Technology in Kerala state where students were enjoying a live musical … Read more