Global Pulse

分类： entertainment

  • Songs created by AI banned from Australia’s music charts

    Songs created by AI banned from Australia’s music charts

    In a landmark decision reshaping the global music industry’s approach to artificial intelligence, Australia’s official music chart body has introduced strict new rules barring largely or fully AI-created songs from eligibility for its rankings, effective this week.

    The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) announced that all tracks submitted for chart consideration must now meet a “substantially human made” requirement, a policy crafted to protect the core human element of artistic creation amid an explosion of AI-generated music content. The change comes in direct response to a high-profile controversy that rocked Australia’s music scene earlier this year, when an AI-assisted cover of Madonna’s iconic *Like A Prayer* from Australian DJ Josh Fawaz climbed to second place on the national overall singles chart and topped the ARIA dance chart. The track gained massive traction, racking up more than 48 million streams on Spotify alone and earning regular spins on major commercial radio playlists, before Fawaz was forced to add clear generative AI credits to the release following widespread public backlash.

    ARIA officials emphasized that the new rules do not amount to a full ban on all AI use in music creation. The policy permits AI to act as a assisting tool: creators may still leverage AI for audio mastering, use AI-powered drum machines, or rely on auto-tune and other digital production aids. To qualify for the charts, however, humans must retain core creative roles: writing the full song composition, performing the lead vocals, and playing the primary instruments featured on the track.

    Australia is not the first territory to restrict AI-generated music from official charts. Earlier this year, a fully AI-created track was blocked from eligibility in Sweden’s national rankings. In July, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), the global body representing the recorded music industry, announced that it would roll out unified AI guidelines for official charts across Latin America, the Middle East, Africa, and Southeast Asia. ARIA’s updated policy is aligned with this global IFPI framework, and also adds an extra provision excluding tracks flagged for stream or chart manipulation.

    “These changes reflect our intent to remain dynamic and promote the human nature of artistry in what is, to say the least, a rapidly developing space,” said Annabelle Herd, ARIA’s Chief Executive Officer. She clarified that the rule acknowledges the already widespread use of AI tools by working artists, and charts are intended to evolve to accommodate legitimate innovation: “Artists already use AI tools in their work, the charts can and should evolve to keep room for that, but music generated wholesale by services built on artists’ recordings is a different matter.” Herd added that rewarding unlicensed AI-generated music would undermine the entire foundation of the recorded music industry ARIA exists to represent.

    Under the new compliance process, all artists submitting tracks for chart consideration must explicitly disclose any use of AI in their creative work. If ARIA later discovers that a charting track is substantially AI-generated without proper disclosure, the organization reserves the right to retroactively adjust the track’s chart position, and in cases where the track reached number one, it can demand the return of any number one achievement awards. Artists who are excluded from the charts under the new policy also retain the right to appeal the decision.

    The new rule has earned support from prominent Australian artists, including popular electronic duo Peking Duk. Last month, the group went viral after sharing an AI-assisted re-recording of their 2014 breakout hit *High* on Instagram, with a sarcastic caption reading: “When you re-record your own song with AI so Australian radio will play it.” Band member Adam Hyde told Channel Nine’s *Today* show that fully AI-generated music erodes a core part of human connection, saying it is “removing the human experience from life.”

    The policy change also aligns with the Australian federal government’s previous commitments to protecting creative workers from unregulated AI. In July 2023, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese promised “the strongest possible protection” for Australian creators from unethical AI use, pledging that writers and musicians would get the right to choose whether and how their work is used to train AI models. Albanese noted that denying creators this control and failing to compensate them for their work’s use in AI training amounts to theft.

  • Australia’s top music charts ban AI songs

    Australia’s top music charts ban AI songs

    In a landmark move to safeguard the core human creativity at the heart of music, Australia’s peak music industry body has officially implemented new rules barring wholly artificial intelligence-generated tracks from the country’s leading music charts. The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) announced the policy update on Tuesday, with the new guidelines set to take full effect this coming Friday.

    Under the revised framework, only music that is substantially created by human artists is eligible for inclusion on the ARIA Charts, the country’s most influential ranking of popular music. The rules specifically exclude any tracks that rely on generative AI to produce the entire work or the majority of its core creative components, including lyrics, composition, and primary vocal performance. Crucially, the policy does not ban all AI use in music: recordings that leverage generative AI as a supporting tool for processes like mixing, mastering, or minor creative assistance still retain their eligibility for chart placement.

    The regulatory change comes amid a rapidly growing wave of concern across the global music industry over the explosive rise of unregulated AI-generated music flooding streaming platforms and airwaves. The catalyst for Australia’s new policy came in July this year, when an AI-generated cover of Madonna’s iconic hit *Like a Prayer* climbed to the top of Australian music charts, triggering widespread industry scrutiny after the use of AI-generated vocals and percussion was revealed to the public.

    Data from major streaming platforms underscores the scale of the AI shift in the industry: a senior Apple Music executive confirmed earlier this year that more than one-third of all new tracks uploaded to the platform are created entirely using generative AI. Global industry players have already begun moving to address the trend: streaming giant Spotify has announced plans to introduce a dedicated “AI Persona” badge that will clearly label AI-generated content created to mimic real human artists, helping listeners distinguish between human-made and AI work.

    Just months before ARIA’s policy update, a coalition of major global music industry organizations unveiled a proposed universal labelling framework for AI-generated content, calling for widespread adoption across all platforms to bring transparency to the rapidly evolving space. ARIA chief executive Annabelle Herd framed the new chart rules as a deliberate defense of artistic authenticity in a fast-changing digital landscape.

    “These changes reflect our intent to remain dynamic and promote the human nature of artistry in what is — to say the least — a rapidly developing space,” Herd said. She added that the ARIA Charts have always maintained a mission to serve as a transparent, accurate measure of the music that Australian audiences consume, and allowing unlicensed AI output to compete on the charts would undermine the core purpose of the organization, which exists to support and represent human-created recorded music.

  • Kit Harington joins HBO’s Harry Potter series as Gilderoy Lockhart

    Kit Harington joins HBO’s Harry Potter series as Gilderoy Lockhart

    HBO has officially confirmed that Emmy-winning actor Kit Harington, famous for his iconic turn as Jon Snow in *Game of Thrones*, will step into the role of celebrity wizard Gilderoy Lockhart for the upcoming second season of its highly anticipated *Harry Potter* television adaptation. The casting comes after original actor Nicholas Hoult was forced to exit the project due to an unresolvable scheduling conflict, a change first reported by entertainment outlet Deadline and later verified by the network to the BBC.

    Harington’s casting marks a third collaboration between the British actor and HBO, following his decade-long run on *Game of Thrones* and a recent role in the network’s financial drama *The Industry*. For long-time fans of the franchise, the news brings a particularly exciting twist: Harington is a self-described lifelong fan of J.K. Rowling’s best-selling books, and already has experience bringing Lockhart to life, having voiced the character in Audible’s star-studded full-cast *Harry Potter* audio edition released last year. The new role may also reunite him with frequent collaborator Mark Mylod, who directed multiple episodes of *Game of Thrones* and is attached to direct several installments of the *Harry Potter* series while also serving as an executive producer alongside Rowling herself.

    Gilderoy Lockhart, the vain yet charismatic wizard who takes up the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry during Harry’s second year, is a core character in *Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets*, the source material for the series’ second season. The role was originally made famous on screen by Kenneth Branagh in Warner Bros.’ 2002 *Chamber of Secrets* feature film. Hoult, the actor previously tapped for the role, is a well-known star with credits ranging from the *X-Men* franchise to *Mad Max: Fury Road* and the upcoming *Superman* reboot. He was announced as Lockhart earlier this month, but conflicting commitments with other ongoing projects clashed with a revised production timeline for the *Harry Potter* series, prompting his exit from the project. As of press time, representatives for both Harington and Hoult have not issued public statements responding to requests for comment on the casting change.

    The first season of HBO’s *Harry Potter* adaptation, which adapts the opening novel *Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone*, is scheduled to premiere globally on HBO Max this Christmas. The series is being produced as a decade-long project, with producers planning individual seasons to cover each of the seven books in Rowling’s original fantasy saga — the same source material that spawned the record-breaking eight-film film franchise that ran from 2001 to 2011. The new adaptation features an all-new young cast: newcomer Dominic McLaughlin leads as the titular Boy Who Lived, with Alastair Stout playing his loyal best friend Ron Weasley and Arabella Stanton taking on the role of the brilliant young witch Hermione Granger. Veteran Oscar-nominated actor John Lithgow has been cast as Hogwarts’ beloved headmaster Albus Dumbledore, while comedian and actor Nick Frost will portray gentle half-giant gamekeeper Rubeus Hagrid. HBO confirmed the casting shake-up in an official announcement shared via the franchise’s Instagram account, writing: “Before we begin year two at Hogwarts, there has been a slight change due to schedule: Kit Harington will be stepping into the role of Gilderoy Lockhart.”

  • Manga-inspired theme park to be built near Paris

    Manga-inspired theme park to be built near Paris

    A landmark €6 billion ($6.5 billion) tourism and investment deal between France and Saudi Arabia is set to deliver three new theme parks to the outskirts of Paris, anchored by a manga-focused attraction inspired by the globally beloved Japanese franchise Dragon Ball Z. The project, greenlit during Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s two-day state visit to France, traces its origins to an unexpected shared passion between the Saudi crown prince and French President Emmanuel Macron.

    Presidential advisers confirmed to reporters Monday that the theme park plan grew out of past conversations between the two leaders about their mutual fondness for Japanese comics, specifically Dragon Ball Z, a decades-old series that retains a massive global fanbase decades after its debut. Macron, a self-avowed manga fan who made headlines earlier this year when he closed a press briefing with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi by performing an iconic hand gesture from the Dragon Ball Z franchise, framed the new development as the largest leisure investment in the region since the opening of Disneyland Paris decades ago. “You know my interest for manga,” he added, confirming his personal connection to the project’s core concept.

    The parks will be constructed just outside Paris near Cergy-Pontoise, with local French media indicating the development will likely occupy the site of the shuttered Mirapolis theme park, which closed its doors 35 years ago. No official opening date has been announced by the Élysée Palace, though officials confirmed the parks will open in sequential phases, with construction expected to stretch across multiple years. The development is projected to generate approximately 2,000 local jobs, according to estimates from the Élysée.

    The project will be spearheaded by Qiddiya Investment Company (QIC), a subsidiary of Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund. The firm already unveiled plans in 2024 to build its own standalone Dragon Ball Z theme park near Riyadh, as part of the kingdom’s broader push to expand its tourism and entertainment sectors.

    Beyond leisure development, the €6bn deal signals a deepening of bilateral economic and diplomatic ties between Paris and Riyadh. During the crown prince’s visit, the two leaders are scheduled to sign a slate of additional cooperation agreements spanning health, transportation, and energy, alongside high-level talks addressing escalating tensions between the United States and Iran. Macron wrote on X Sunday that the state visit marks an “important milestone” in the bilateral relationship, noting that “France and Saudi Arabia have always worked together to promote peace and stability” amid ongoing regional challenges in the Middle East.

    The partnership aligns with Saudi Arabia’s long-term economic strategy to diversify its national revenue stream away from heavy dependence on oil exports, investing heavily in new sectors including tourism, leisure, and esports. Over the weekend, Macron welcomed bin Salman to the closing ceremony of the Esports World Cup, an event originally scheduled to be hosted in Riyadh that was relocated to Paris over safety concerns linked to ongoing Middle East conflict.

  • Dutch broadcaster Avrotros pulls out of 2027 Eurovision Song Contest

    Dutch broadcaster Avrotros pulls out of 2027 Eurovision Song Contest

    One of Europe’s most high-profile annual entertainment events is facing fresh internal turmoil after Dutch public broadcaster Avrotros announced its full withdrawal from the 2027 Eurovision Song Contest, citing irreversible damage to the competition’s long-held claim of political neutrality amid ongoing international armed conflicts. The decision, formally announced in an official statement released Monday, marks a deepening of rifts that have divided the Eurovision community since 2024, as tensions over Israel’s participation in the contest continue to escalate.

    Avrotros leadership made clear that the recent rule adjustments adopted by the contest’s governing body, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), do not go far enough to repair the competition’s compromised neutral standing. Earlier in August, the EBU passed a landmark amendment to its competition rules: any nation actively involved in a large-scale armed conflict that wins the contest will be barred from hosting the following year’s event. The rule change also expands disqualification for hosting to nations grappling with sensitive geopolitical situations that threaten the security, safety or regional stability of a potential host. While the amendment was widely interpreted as a response to calls for stricter standards around Israel’s participation, it also applies to Ukraine, which has been engaged in a full-scale defensive war against Russian invasion since 2022.

    For Avrotros, however, these incremental changes failed to address core concerns around the contest’s shifting identity. In its statement, the broadcaster noted that two ongoing crises—the severe humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Gaza and growing global restrictions on press freedom—have deepened divisions within the Eurovision ecosystem in recent years. The rule updates, Avrotros argued, do not provide sufficient confidence that the competition’s founding independent and neutral character has been restored.

    The exit of Avrotros does not automatically mean the Netherlands will be absent from the 2027 contest. Unlike the United Kingdom’s single national public broadcasting system, the Netherlands has a decentralized network of multiple public broadcasters overseen by umbrella organization NPO. Another Dutch public outlet could step in to take on participation, and the EBU has already confirmed it will open dialogue with NPO to explore this path. Avrotros also emphasized that its withdrawal is limited to the 2027 contest, and does not rule out future Dutch participation in 2028 and beyond.

    This development follows a series of boycotts that have rocked the contest over the past year. Last November, after the EBU rejected a motion to suspend Israel from the 2026 contest held in Vienna, Austria, five national broadcasters announced boycotts—including major Eurovision participant nations Spain, Ireland and the Netherlands. Despite the protests, Israeli entrant Noam Bettan finished second in the 2026 competition, marking the second consecutive year Israel has claimed the runner-up position. This back-to-back strong performance has amplified private concerns among participating broadcasters over the security risks of hosting the contest in Israel if the country claims its first victory since 1998, a fear that directly prompted the EBU’s new rule barring conflict-zone nations from hosting.

    Taco Zimmerman, director general of Avrotros, framed the painful withdrawal as a matter of alignment with core organizational values. “The Eurovision Song Contest was originally created to bring people and countries together, but it is now a platform for division,” Zimmerman said in a statement. “It is undeniable that international conflicts are increasingly affecting the contest, undermining its neutral character. As a public broadcaster, we remain committed to our values. They guide us in everything we do, even when that means stepping away from an event that is very close to our hearts. That is painful as we would have very much liked to be part of the contest again next year.”

    In response, EBU contest director Martin Green expressed regret over Avrotros’s decision but reaffirmed respect for the broadcaster’s stance. “We will now continue our dialogue with NPO, the umbrella organization for Dutch public service media, regarding the opportunities for another broadcaster to participate,” Green said in a statement. “We very much hope that audiences and artists in the Netherlands can continue to be represented in the Eurovision Song Contest.” Green pushed back against claims the contest has become a platform for division, reaffirming its founding mission: “The Eurovision Song Contest has always been a place to bring people together, celebrate diverse communities, and show that a better world is possible even in the most difficult times.”

    The rule amendment, which was approved by the contest’s governing body following feedback from participating broadcasters after the 2026 Vienna contest, addresses a long-unresolved gap in Eurovision rules that many feared would leave the organization in crisis if a conflict-zone nation won. Ukraine’s 2022 victory, just months after Russia’s full-scale invasion, was broadly celebrated as a symbolic show of global solidarity, with the United Kingdom stepping in to host the 2023 contest on Ukraine’s behalf. But growing polarization around the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has created far deeper divisions within the Eurovision community, with no clear consensus on how to balance political values with the contest’s founding mission of cross-border connection.

  • Nigerian film star Ogogo dies from cancer aged 66

    Nigerian film star Ogogo dies from cancer aged 66

    One of the most iconic figures in Yoruba-language cinema and a beloved veteran of Nigeria’s world-famous Nollywood industry, Taiwo Hassan — universally known by his stage name Ogogo — has passed away at the age of 66 following a battle with cancer.

    The news of his death was confirmed by his daughter, Kira Hassan, during a heartbreaking live broadcast on Instagram Sunday. Visibly emotional, Hassan shared that her family was still struggling to process the loss of their patriarch.

    Fellow Nollywood veteran Prince Jide Kosoko later shared details of Ogogo’s funeral arrangements, confirming that the actor will be laid to rest on Monday in his hometown in Ogun State, southwestern Nigeria, in accordance with Islamic burial customs that require interment shortly after death.

    Before rising to household-name status across Nigeria and beyond, Ogogo built an entirely different career working as a mechanic for 13 years at the Ogun State Water Corporation. He first began balancing his day job with acting roles in 1981, gradually building his reputation as a talented performer on screen. It was not until 1994 that he made the leap to full-time acting, devoting himself entirely to the craft he had grown to love.

    Over his decades-long career, Ogogo collected numerous industry awards and earned widespread critical acclaim for his standout performances. One of his most celebrated roles came in the hit film *Anikulapo*, where he portrayed the Alaafin of Oyo — the historically most powerful and revered monarch in Yorubaland — a role that cemented his status as one of Yoruba cinema’s most skilled and recognizable stars.

    In the wake of his passing, current and former colleagues, as well as generations of fans, have flooded social media with tributes honoring Ogogo’s legacy, his contributions to Nigerian film, and the warm personality that made him a favorite across audiences. Additional reporting for this story was completed by BBC News Yoruba.

  • Dutch say won’t participate in ‘no longer’ neutral Eurovision

    Dutch say won’t participate in ‘no longer’ neutral Eurovision

    In a move that underscores deepening geopolitical rifts within the world’s most watched live music competition, Dutch public broadcaster AVROTROS announced Monday that the Netherlands will not participate in the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest, arguing the event can no longer claim political neutrality amid ongoing divisions over the Gaza war. Taco Zimmerman, AVROTROS Director-General, framed the withdrawal as a values-driven decision in an official statement, noting that international conflicts have steadily eroded the contest’s long-held apolitical identity and transformed it into a stage for global division.

    The Netherlands’ exit comes amid a growing boycott movement targeting Eurovision over its decision to allow Israel to compete in recent years. Earlier this month, contest organizers introduced a new rule barring countries actively engaged in armed conflict from hosting the competition, but Zimmerman emphasized that this incremental policy shift does not go far enough to repair Eurovision’s damaged neutral standing. “The recently announced changes… do not provide sufficient confidence that the independent and neutral character of the Eurovision Song Contest has been restored,” the AVROTROS statement read.

    Next year’s competition, scheduled for May 15 in Bulgaria’s Black Sea coastal city of Burgas, will mark the first time the Balkan nation has hosted the event. The hosting opportunity follows Bulgarian singer Darina Yotova, professionally known as Dara, claiming victory at the 2025 contest held in Vienna with her upbeat dance hit “Bangaranga”.

    Founded in 1956, Eurovision has grown from a small post-war European collaboration into a global cultural phenomenon, launching the careers of legendary acts ranging from Swedish pop icons ABBA to Grammy-winning vocalist Celine Dion. The 2025 contest drew 131 million global viewers, a sharp drop of 35 million from the 2024 edition after five countries boycotted over Israel’s participation. The Netherlands joined Iceland, Spain, Ireland, and Slovenia in withdrawing from the 2025 contest, with the latter three countries refusing to broadcast the event at all.

    The Netherlands boasts one of the longest legacies in Eurovision history, having competed in the very first contest in 1956 and claimed the top prize five times across the decades. The nation’s most recent victory came in 2019, when Duncan Laurence’s ballad “Arcade” took first place before going on to become the first Eurovision entry in history to hit one billion streams on Spotify, per official contest data.

    Zimmerman described the decision to withdraw as a painful one for Dutch public broadcasting, which has deep historical ties to the competition. “It is painful as we would have very much liked to be part of the Contest again next year,” he said. “As a public broadcaster, we remain committed to our values. They guide us in everything we do, even when that means stepping away from an event that is very close to our hearts.”

  • US rapper BigXthaPlug arrested on drug and gun charges

    US rapper BigXthaPlug arrested on drug and gun charges

    Rising American hip-hop artist BigXthaPlug, best known for his viral Southern trap and country-rap hits, has been taken into custody in Texas on multiple charges including driving while intoxicated, marijuana possession, and unlawful firearm possession. Law enforcement officials with the Allen County Police Department confirmed to BBC Newsbeat that the 28-year-old artist, whose legal name is Xavier Landum, was pulled over during a routine stop on Friday and has since been detained at the Collin County Jail.

    The arrest marks the third time the rapper has faced similar legal trouble in recent years. Just one year prior, he was arrested on matching charges of unlawful weapon possession and possession of a small quantity of marijuana, a case that remains open and unresolved as of this reporting. He was still out on bail from the 2025 arrest when he was taken into custody this week. Records also show he faced related charges back in 2022.

    BigXthaPlug first rose to mainstream fame through a string of viral hit singles, including fan favorites *Texas*, *The Largest*, and *Mmhmm*, which cemented his reputation as one of the most exciting new voices in the modern Southern rap scene. He made his major UK festival debut in 2025, performing at London’s iconic Wireless Festival just weeks ahead of dropping his last full-length project. He had been gearing up for a high-profile new chapter in his career in recent days, teasing an upcoming new album release via his official Instagram and was scheduled to hit the stage this past Friday at the Country Rising festival.

    Following news of his arrest, Country Rising festival organizers announced via their own Instagram page that the artist would no longer appear on the lineup, citing an unforeseen personal emergency as the reason for the last-minute cancellation. As of Monday, legal representatives for BigXthaPlug have not yet released a public statement regarding his latest arrest.

  • China investigates comedian after he altered a revolutionary song lyric onstage

    China investigates comedian after he altered a revolutionary song lyric onstage

    One of China’s most high-profile traditional comedy performers is facing official investigation and the abrupt cancellation of multiple scheduled shows after altering the lyrics of a revered revolutionary song during a public performance, according to regional and international media reports. Guo Degang, the most influential figure in xiangsheng – a centuries-old Chinese form of conversational stand-up comedy credited with reviving mainstream public interest in the art among younger audiences – is under probe by cultural regulators in Wuhan, the central Chinese city where the controversial performance took place last month, local Chinese media confirmed.

    The incident has triggered a wave of performance cancellations across the country. A scheduled August show in Xi’an, a major northwestern Chinese city, was pulled from the calendar, with ticketing platform Damai and the city’s performance venue both citing unspecified “venue issues” in public statements. The venue reclassified the show as “postponed” but declined to share a new rescheduled date, and Guo’s promotional team has offered full refunds for all ticket purchases, as well as reimbursement for pre-booked travel and accommodation costs linked to the performance. Multiple other August shows in cities across China have also been scrapped, local media reports indicate.

    According to social media videos and local reporting, the controversy stems from an unauthorized lyric change to *Playing My Beloved Pipa*, a beloved revolutionary song tied to the 1956 film *Railway Guerrilla*, which chronicles the story of Communist-led resistance against Japanese occupation during World War II. During his Wuhan performance, Guo altered the original line “it is quiet along Weishan Lake” to “it is quiet in the Forbidden City” – the centuries-old former imperial palace in Beijing that now operates as a major public museum drawing more than 10 million annual visitors. The song is one of China’s most culturally significant revolutionary tracks: it was performed at the 1998 CCTV Spring Festival Gala, China’s most-watched annual television event, and was named in 2019 as one of the 100 recommended songs to mark the 70th founding anniversary of the People’s Republic of China by the Communist Party’s Publicity Department.

    Shanghai-based state-affiliated outlet The Paper noted that while Guo’s full Wuhan performance received pre-approval from local cultural regulators, the last-minute lyric change did not. The alteration may run afoul of existing Chinese regulations governing commercial public performances, the outlet reported. As of Saturday, neither Guo Degang nor his promotional team had responded to emailed requests for comment from the Associated Press.

    The investigation underscores the increasingly strict regulatory environment and content oversight governing China’s arts and entertainment sectors, where creators and performers must operate around vaguely defined, frequently shifting “red lines” for acceptable content. This is not the first high-profile incident of a Chinese comedian facing professional consequences for on-stage content. In 2023, rising stand-up comedian Li Haoshi, who performs under the stage name House, sparked massive national controversy after he used a Chinese military slogan to describe two of his pet dogs chasing a squirrel. Li’s management company Xiaoguo Culture Media was fined 14.7 million yuan (roughly $2.13 million) over the incident, and Li has not been permitted to perform in public venues on mainland China since.

    Over the course of his decades-long career, Guo Degang has been widely credited with revitalizing xiangsheng, a traditional art form that was once largely regional and restricted to older audiences, by making it accessible and appealing to younger Chinese consumers. His performance troupe Deyunshe has become one of the most popular comedy brands in China, selling out shows across the country and building a massive global following on social media.

  • Tupac murder accused told police in 2008 his nephew fired fatal shots

    Tupac murder accused told police in 2008 his nephew fired fatal shots

    Nearly 30 years after the fatal drive-by shooting that claimed the life of rap icon Tupac Shakur, the long-stalled cold case has finally reached a Las Vegas courtroom, with Duane “Keffe D” Davis standing trial on a single charge of murder with a deadly weapon. The 63-year-old, identified as a founding leader of a notorious Compton-based street gang, has entered a plea of not guilty, setting the stage for a high-stakes trial that has reignited global public fascination with one of the most high-profile unsolved murders in modern pop culture history.

    On the fourth day of proceedings, jurors were granted access to a never-before-publicly-heard 2008 police interview recording, which forms the backbone of the prosecution’s case against Davis. The interview was originally conducted by Los Angeles Police Department detectives investigating the 1997 murder of another rap legend, The Notorious B.I.G., when Davis first offered detailed accounts of his role in the Shakur shooting.

    Per the prosecution’s narrative, Davis did not pull the trigger the night of September 7, 1996, but orchestrated the attack in retaliation for an earlier casino brawl that left his nephew, Orlando Anderson, beaten by members of Shakur’s entourage. Prosecutors argue Davis believed the assault on his relative could not go unpunished, and that he supplied the murder weapon to carry out the planned attack to advance his gang’s criminal standing.

    In the 2008 interview transcript played for the court, Davis described the moments leading up to the shooting, when the Cadillac he was riding in pulled alongside the vehicle carrying Shakur and Death Row Records co-founder Marion “Suge” Knight. “Yeah, if we would’ve been on my side, I would’ve blasted,” Davis told investigators. He went on to explain that he passed his loaded gun back to rear-seat passenger Deandre “Big Dre” Smith, who declined to fire. It was Anderson, Davis said, who took the weapon and unleashed the barrage of gunfire that hit Shakur. Anderson, who long denied any involvement in the murder, was killed in a separate gang-related shooting in 1998, two years before the 2008 interview, meaning he can never testify to defend himself against the claims.

    Detective Greg Kading, one of the investigators who led the 2008 interview, told Davis at the time that nothing he shared could be used against him as part of a cooperation agreement for information on the Biggie murder. Prosecutors argue that this immunity agreement was voided after Davis published a 2019 memoir *Compton Street Legend*, in which he publicly repeated his claims about his role in the killing. In the book, Davis wrote that the attack on his nephew gave the group “the ultimate green light to do something to their ass,” and reaffirmed he was in the car during the shooting and disposed of the gun afterward. Davis has since walked back those claims, arguing much of the memoir was fictionalized by his co-author to boost book sales and that he did not approve the final content.

    One of the most explosive revelations to emerge from the played interview was Davis’ claim that he repeatedly discussed a plot to kill Shakur with Sean “Diddy” Combs, the founder of Bad Boy Records, a rival label to Shakur’s Death Row Records. When pressed by detectives to confirm where the discussions took place and who was targeted, Davis acknowledged he and Combs had talked about killing both Shakur and Knight. Representatives for Combs have not yet issued a public response to requests for comment on the allegation.

    Davis’ defense attorney, Michael Sanft, has launched a full-throated challenge to the prosecution’s case, centering his argument on the unreliability of Davis’ past statements. Sanft asked jurors to question whether uncorroborated claims made years after the killing can be trusted as evidence of guilt. “What facts do you have to support any of what Keffe D said in any of his interviews or the book?” Sanft asked the panel. “If I just say things, is that going to end up being one of those things where I’m going to be handed up for a murder by just repeating that fiction? The answer is no. You have to corroborate everything I say in order for it to be true.”

    Sanft has also argued that other prosecution witnesses lack credibility and that the three-decade-old police investigation is marred by critical procedural flaws. Earlier in the week, a retired Las Vegas homicide detective admitted to the jury that no surviving witness has ever been able to positively identify the shooter. However, former Shakur entourage member James “Mob James” McDonald testified that within hours of the shooting, members of the rapper’s inner circle had already identified Anderson as the gunman. “It was a gang war. People were getting hurt. People were being sought,” McDonald told the court. “Orlando (Anderson), him and certain other people were being sought because people wanted to kill them.”

    As the trial unfolds, public attention remains fixed on the case that has captivated true crime and music fans alike for three decades, with many hoping the proceedings will finally deliver a definitive answer to one of pop culture’s most enduring unsolved mysteries.