Global Pulse

分类： entertainment

  • Angélique Kidjo makes history for Africa with star on Hollywood Walk of Fame

    Angélique Kidjo makes history for Africa with star on Hollywood Walk of Fame

    A decades-long career that redefined global music and bridged cross-cultural divides reached an unprecedented landmark this week, as Beninese superstar Angélique Kidjo made history by becoming the first African musician to receive a star on the iconic Hollywood Walk of Fame.

    The 66-year-old five-time Grammy winner, celebrated globally for her powerhouse vocals and genre-blending sound that fuses traditional West African rhythms with funk, jazz, R&B, and pop, used the induction ceremony to highlight the foundational role African art has played in global music creation. Speaking to gathered guests at the Tuesday unveiling, Kidjo said: “We Africans just don’t know what we’ve given to the world, and what we continue giving to the world for the music to exist. Without us, there’s no music possible on this planet.”

    Kidjo’s vision of global unity took center stage during her remarks, framing the honor as a validation of her long-held belief in shared humanity. “The star for me means that my vision of the world as a small village is a reality,” she said. “It doesn’t matter where we come from, what language we speak, which skin colour we have. We are human. It’s one human family.”

    The ceremony drew a roster of A-list guests, including fellow Beninese-born Hollywood actor Djimon Hounsou, Academy Award-nominated actor Willem Dafoe, and Nigerian Afrobeats star Adekunle Gold, alongside Kidjo’s family and close friends. Attendees celebrated the artist’s 40-plus year career with joyous singing and dancing, honoring a discography that includes high-profile collaborations with music legends ranging from Burna Boy, John Legend and Bono to Alicia Keys.

    Born and raised in southern Benin, Kidjo fled her home country for Paris in 1983 to escape oppressive rule under the then-communist government. In a 2023 interview with the BBC, she reflected on that experience, saying, “From the moment the communist regime arrived in Benin, I became aware that the freedom we enjoy can be snatched away in a second.” After building her career in Europe, she eventually relocated to the United States, where her work continued to gain international acclaim.

    Today, Kidjo’s discography spans 18 full-length albums, with 17 Grammy nominations and five wins to her name. She released her latest studio project, *HOPE!!*, earlier this year, featuring production from Pharrell Williams and collaborations with Ayra Starr, Quavo, Nile Rodgers, and Diane Warren. Beyond her Grammy success, she received the 2023 Polar Music Prize and was named one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in 2021.

    Dafoe, who spoke at the induction ceremony, lauded Kidjo’s unmatched work ethic and artistic commitment, comparing her energy to James Brown, widely known as the hardest working man in show business. “She is without a doubt the hardest working woman in showbusiness,” Dafoe said. “The first time I saw Angélique perform live, I thought her music, her dancing, her commitment were incredible. She’s not only an incredible performer, songwriter and musician, but also an incredibly kind and giving person and a real deal activist.”

    Beyond her artistic work, Kidjo has long been a dedicated advocate for marginalized communities. She serves as a goodwill ambassador for both Unicef and Oxfam, and co-founded the Batonga Foundation, which works to expand educational and economic opportunity for vulnerable young girls and women across Benin.

    Harvey Mason Jr., CEO of the Recording Academy — the organization behind the Grammy Awards — also praised Kidjo’s cross-cultural impact during the ceremony. “She’s connected cultures, she’s crossed borders, she’s reminded audiences everywhere that while we may come from different backgrounds, her music unites in a way that few other things can,” Mason said.

    Kidjo now joins more than 2,800 entertainment icons with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and is only the second person of African origin to receive the honor, following white South African actress Charlize Theron. Fans of African music can find more reporting on the continent’s vibrant creative scene at BBCAfrica.com, and follow BBC Africa on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram for updates.

  • Once shaped by court rituals, China’s imperial cuisine lives on today

    Once shaped by court rituals, China’s imperial cuisine lives on today

    Nearly a century after its founding, a historic Beijing restaurant remains one of the last guardians of China’s imperial culinary legacy, keeping alive dishes, rituals and handcrafting techniques that trace their roots directly to the palaces of the Qing Dynasty.

    One of its most beloved delicacies carries a story that stretches back to the final years of imperial rule. Legend holds that Empress Dowager Cixi once dreamed of a savory pancake late in her reign, and when the identical treat was served to her for breakfast the next morning, she was so delighted that she rewarded her head chef with a silver ingot. Originally named minced pork pancake, the dish was renamed “dream pastry” to honor its connection to Cixi’s vision, explains Zhou Tong, a veteran pastry chef at Beijing’s iconic Fangshan Restaurant.

    Founded in 1925 by former Qing Dynasty court chefs inside Beihai Park, a centuries-old imperial garden where dynastic royals once relaxed, conducted state affairs and held sacred rituals, Fangshan’s core mission is written directly into its name: Fangshan translates literally to “imitating imperial cuisine.” While a small number of other Beijing establishments also offer their own interpretations of imperial court dining, and the Palace Museum preserves Qing-era dining artifacts ranging from ornate pastry molds to serving vessels, Fangshan stands out for its commitment to passing down original recipes and techniques from generation to generation of chefs.

    Imperial cuisine is far more than a collection of fancy dishes: it encompasses the strict rituals that structured every meal, from the emperor’s daily breakfast to grand state banquets and sacred ceremonial feasts. For example, drinking milk tea was always the formal opening step at Qing Dynasty banquets, notes Teng Deyong, a researcher specializing in court culture at the Palace Museum. During grand events, the emperor would bestow portions of wine and food to assembled princes and high officials, and recipients were required to perform full formal rites of respect before they could partake.

    Sacrificial ceremonies, a core part of imperial court life, followed their own separate set of culinary rules. One of the most important Qing rituals, held at the Palace of Earthly Tranquillity inside the Forbidden City, centered on unseasoned boiled fatty pork. After the ceremony concluded, the pork was distributed to attendees, and receiving this sacrificial meat was considered a high honor. This tradition of unseasoned ritual food stretches back even further in Chinese cultural history: Wandi Wang, a professor of Chinese studies at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania, points to the *Book of Rites*, an ancient Confucian text detailing ceremonial customs, which describes an unseasoned meat broth called “grand stew” served during sacrificial rituals.

    “The absence of added flavoring was itself meaningful: the unseasoned dish evoked an earlier and simpler way of cooking and thus expressed a ritual ideal of honoring antiquity and remembering cultural origins,” Wang explained.

    Pastries held a special place in imperial dining, with a dedicated palace institution solely responsible for crafting sweet and savory treats for the court. At Fangshan, Zhou still makes the original imperial versions of dream pastry and small steamed corn buns following century-old recipes, and servers share the dishes’ rich histories with every table. “People enjoy them even more because they carry such meaningful history,” Zhou said.

    His craft is passed down through an unbroken line of master-to-apprentice training, and traditional methods strictly require all work to be done by hand — no modern blenders or food processors are permitted. Beans are pulverized by hand using fine sieves, and specialty flours are mixed and aged in custom-made copper pots. “A machine may be more convenient, but the texture is completely different,” Zhou explained. “You lose the delicate graininess and sandy mouthfeel that handcrafted pastries are supposed to have.” That commitment to craft has paid off: pea flour cakes and red bean rolls, two of Fangshan’s most popular pastries, sell more than 200 orders per day during peak tourist seasons.

    For Fan Liangliang, Fangshan’s current executive chef, adapting to the restaurant’s traditional standards required unlearning everything he had been taught in modern culinary school. Instead of prioritizing speed and efficiency, he had to master slow, labor-intensive techniques unique to imperial cuisine, such as “Nizihuo” — a method that involves mincing ingredients like fish, shrimp or chicken into a smooth paste, then reshaping the paste into intricate decorative forms like frogs, birds or flowers.

    “This is one of the hallmarks of imperial cuisine,” Fan said. “Every dish had to be innovative, visually beautiful, nutritious and worthy of presentation on the imperial dining table.”

    As times have changed, the restaurant has made thoughtful adaptations to align with modern norms: rare, protected ingredients like bear paws are no longer served, and other ingredients have been substituted to fit contemporary availability and dietary preferences, all while retaining the core spirit and flavor of each original dish.

    Scholars note that Chinese culinary traditions have always carried layered meaning beyond sustenance, reflecting broader cultural, political and aesthetic values that evolve over time. Wang points to a famous poem by Tang Dynasty poet Du Fu, who wrote about cold noodles made from pagoda-tree leaves. “The poem is not simply a description of a dish,” Wang said. “Du Fu turns the verdant, fresh, yet modest dish into an expression of his political loyalty and thwarted ambition to serve the emperor.”

    “Preserving a culinary tradition begins with taking its history seriously,” Wang added. “Culinary heritage tells us not only how people ate in the past, but also how people in the present choose to remember and give meaning to that past.”

    Fan emphasizes that at its core, Fangshan’s imperial cuisine is a historic fusion of Manchu and Han Chinese culinary traditions, bringing together the food culture of the Qing Dynasty’s Manchu rulers and China’s Han majority. “It’s not simply a collection of dishes from the two cultures,” he said. “It represents the blending of their different approaches to food into a unified cuisine.”

    While core techniques like stir-frying, braising and stewing have remained intact, and some ingredients have been updated for accessibility and modern palates, the team’s commitment to preserving this unique cultural heritage remains unshaken. “When people dine at Fangshan Restaurant, I hope they experience more than just a meal,” Fan said. “They experience the weight of history.”

  • ZZ Top drummer Frank Beard dies aged 77

    ZZ Top drummer Frank Beard dies aged 77

    The iconic blues-rock band ZZ Top has announced the passing of its longtime drummer, founding member Frank Beard, at the age of 77. According to an official statement posted to the band’s official website, Beard died on Monday while receiving hospice care at his personal ranch in Richmond, Texas, surrounded by his close family members. No details regarding his specific cause of death have been released to the public.

    Beard’s death has forced the band to cancel two scheduled tour stops this week in the western United States: a Monday performance in Salt Lake City, Utah, and a Wednesday show in Colorado Springs, Colorado. However, the group confirmed that it plans to pick up its ongoing *The Big One! Tour* this coming weekend, with two scheduled sets at the Austin City Limits venue in Austin, Texas — a spot the band says counted among Beard’s favorite performance spaces, in a city he considered a second home.

    A foundational member of ZZ Top, Beard was part of the band’s original lineup when the group was formed in Houston, Texas, in 1969. Alongside lead vocalist and guitarist Billy Gibbons and bassist Dusty Hill, Beard made up the iconic trio that played its first public live show in 1970. Over the course of his six-decade tenure with the band, Beard contributed to 15 full-length studio albums and four live albums, helping craft the group’s signature blues-rock sound that catapulted them to global fame. The band’s discography includes countless chart-topping hit singles such as *Gimme All Your Lovin’*, *Sleeping Bag*, and their well-known cover of *Viva Las Vegas*.

    The band underwent a major shift in 2021 when original bassist Dusty Hill passed away, after which the group chose to continue touring with new bassist Elwood Francis stepping into Hill’s role. Following Beard’s death, Gibbons shared a heartfelt tribute to his bandmate and collaborator of more than 50 years.

    “Today, Elwood and I lost a great friend and collaborator, and the world lost one of the most naturally innovative drummers and a great and true son of Texas,” Gibbons said in the statement. He added that Beard’s instantly recognizable, steady backbeat was the critical backbone that kept ZZ Top at the top of the rock scene for decades. Staying true to Beard’s own wishes, Gibbons confirmed that the band will continue performing moving forward.

    ZZ Top, one of the longest-running active rock bands in American history, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004, in recognition of its massive influence on blues and rock music. Over the course of their career, the band has toured extensively across North America, Europe, and South America, building a loyal global fanbase that spans multiple generations.

  • Sonia Gandhi’s memoir to revisit love, loss and her decision to decline India’s top job

    Sonia Gandhi’s memoir to revisit love, loss and her decision to decline India’s top job

    NEW YORK — One of the most consequential figures in modern Indian politics, Sonia Gandhi, is preparing to open a deeply personal window into her life and decades of history with the iconic Nehru-Gandhi political dynasty, with her firsthand memoir scheduled for release this November via publisher Alfred A. Knopf. The 79-year-old former Indian National Congress president, who grew up in a small Italian town before her fateful meeting with Rajiv Gandhi at the University of Cambridge, pulls back the curtain on a life defined by love, extraordinary loss, and unexpected political destiny in the upcoming book, titled *Belonging: A Journey of Love*.

    Gandhi’s life story is inextricably tied to one of the most famous political families in the world. When she married Rajiv Gandhi, she joined a dynasty that had shaped India since its independence: Rajiv was the grandson of Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s founding prime minister, and the son of Indira Gandhi, the nation’s first female prime minister. What began as a quiet private life was shattered by two devastating national tragedies, as Gandhi recounts in the memoir. First, in 1984, Indira Gandhi was assassinated, thrusting Rajiv into the role of prime minister. Just seven years later, Rajiv Gandhi was also killed in an assassination, turning personal grief into an unplanned entry into public life for Sonia Gandhi.

    Unlike many existing accounts of the Nehru-Gandhi family, which have often focused on their public legacy rather than their private humanity, Gandhi says her book offers an unvarnished look at the people behind the political names. In a statement released Tuesday by Knopf to announce the publication date, Gandhi noted that countless works have been written about her famous family, but few have captured the core truth of their motivations, their choices, and their very human shortcomings. This memoir, she explains, is ultimately a tribute to their humanity, while also offering readers an intimate, on-the-ground perspective on six decades of social and political transformation in India, the nation she now calls home.

    For Gandhi, entering politics was never a planned ambition. “It was heartbreak and loss that threw me into the public world of politics. Up till then I had guarded my privacy fiercely,” she said in her statement. She would go on to make history as the longest-serving president of the Indian National Congress, and in a move that shocked many observers, she declined the party’s invitation to take the office of prime minister. In 2014, the Congress party lost national power to Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, a Hindu nationalist party that has held office ever since.

    Gandhi acknowledged that putting her life story to paper was not an easy process. Opening up about private moments and experiences she had long kept hidden required vulnerability, she said. But as she stepped back from active political life in recent years and reflected on her journey, she began to see the throughline that connects every chapter of her story: from her quiet childhood in rural Italy to the turbulent, complex years she spent in India as Rajiv’s wife and Indira’s daughter-in-law, a thread of love and loyalty has shaped every step of her path.

    Today, the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty remains a core force in Indian opposition politics. Both of Sonia Gandhi’s children, Rahul Gandhi — the current leader of the Congress party — and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, hold seats in India’s lower house of parliament as members of the Congress party.

  • Kanye West announces tour dates in Russia

    Kanye West announces tour dates in Russia

    Rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, is set to take the stage for two back-to-back concerts this October at St. Petersburg’s 70,000-seat Gazprom Arena, marking the highest-profile performance by a Western artist in Russia since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine four years ago. Tickets for the hotly anticipated shows sold out within just hours of their Monday announcement, with prices spanning from 9,000 Russian roubles (approximately £78) all the way up to 160,000 roubles (around £1,394).

    These upcoming Russian concerts arrive as Ye works to rebuild his public image, which has been badly tarnished by years of widely condemned antisemitic and pro-Nazi statements. In January of this year, the rapper issued a public apology, attributing his inflammatory remarks to a past brain injury and his bipolar disorder diagnosis.

    Despite this public attempt at reconciliation, Ye’s planned 2026 European summer tour has been severely disrupted, with multiple dates scrapped amid widespread public backlash over the artist’s long-documented extreme views. In the United Kingdom, the major annual Wireless Festival was called off entirely after Home Office officials denied Ye entry into the country, ruling that his presence would not be “conducive to the public good” after he was booked to headline all three nights of the event. Scheduled performances in France, Poland, Italy and the Czech Republic were also scrapped by organizers, though shows in Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Turkey and Albania ultimately moved forward as planned.

    At Ye’s recent concert in Madrid, Spain’s national public broadcaster RTVE reported that as much as 60% of ticket holders were international fans who had been unable to attend a show by the artist in their home countries. RTVE reviewer Javier Villuendas praised the performance’s “spectacular” staging, which features Ye performing atop a massive illuminated dome, and called his hit-packed setlist “to put it simply, a fire emoji.” He also noted that “we didn’t see any Nazis in the audience, by the way.” Music outlet Mondo Sonoro’s critic Daniel Caballero added that the electrifying set left the crowd “practically speechless,” observing that Ye appeared focused, fully committed to the performance, and “determined to regain his sanity and his passion.”

    Rumors of a planned Russian performance by Ye have circulated for years. The rapper first visited the country in 2024 to attend the birthday of Russian fashion designer Gosha Rubchinskiy, a frequent collaborator, when plans for a show were first floated.

    Not everyone has welcomed Ye’s upcoming St. Petersburg shows, however. Prominent conservative Russian lawmaker Vitaly Milonov, known for his hardline anti-Western stances, has publicly suggested that Ye replace his planned original setlist with traditional Russian folk songs to align with nationalist views. “Maybe after this he’ll stop his disgusting antics and become a normal person,” Milonov added in a public video statement.

    Before Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, regular performances by major Western musical acts were common across the country, with A-list artists including Red Hot Chili Peppers, Lana Del Rey, Muse and System of a Down all touring in Russian cities. But after the invasion began, the vast majority of major international record labels suspended all operations in Russia, leaving only a small number of Western artists willing to stage performances in the country. Most of those who have performed have been lower-profile B-list acts including Tyga, DaBaby, Akon and pro-Trump rapper Lil Pump, with American pop star Jason Derulo the most notable exception, having staged shows in St. Petersburg and Moscow last year and telling fans he planned to return as part of his 2026 world tour.

    Ye’s string of antisemitic controversies first began in 2022, when a series of offensive posts on social media led to his accounts being removed from major platforms and the termination of his high-profile partnerships with major fashion brands including Adidas and Balenciaga. The backlash intensified after he openly declared himself “a Nazi”, released a track titled Heil Hitler and sold merchandise emblazoned with the swastika, a symbol associated with Nazi Germany.

    In January 2026, Ye issued a formal apology via a full-page print advertisement in *The Wall Street Journal*, writing: “I am not a Nazi or an antisemite.” He reflected on a “four-month-long manic episode of psychotic, paranoid and impulsive behaviour”, saying he was “deeply mortified” by his past actions, and explained that his bipolar disorder means “you’re manic [and] you don’t think you’re sick”.

    Critics have nevertheless questioned the timing of Ye’s apology, which coincided with the release of his new studio album *Bully* and the official launch of his 2026 world tour, leading many to suggest the statement was a calculated PR move rather than a genuine change of heart.

  • Hayden Panettiere’s ex Wladimir Klitschko says family in ‘profound shock and grief’

    Hayden Panettiere’s ex Wladimir Klitschko says family in ‘profound shock and grief’

    The global entertainment community is reeling from the sudden passing of beloved actor Hayden Panettiere, who died at her home in Greenville, South Carolina this past Sunday at the age of 36. Local law enforcement has confirmed no initial evidence of foul play or suspicious circumstances surrounding her death, though official cause of death remains pending following an autopsy that recorded no signs of physical trauma. First responder dispatch audio reveals emergency teams responded to a report of cardiac arrest linked to a suspected overdose, marking a tragic end to years of the star’s well-documented public battle with substance use disorder.

    In one of the most high-profile tributes shared in the wake of Panettiere’s death, former heavyweight world boxing champion Wladimir Klitschko — her ex-partner and father of their 11-year-old daughter Kaya — opened up about the profound loss that has left his family in deep shock and overwhelming grief.

    “Hayden’s tragic death saddens me deeply. She left this world far too soon,” Klitschko wrote in his public statement. “Though she was no longer my partner, she remained an important part of my life, and she is the mother of our child. She built an incredible career through immense natural talent, while also grappling with the harsh, unforgiving darker sides of this incredibly demanding entertainment industry.”

    Klitschko’s tribute also addressed the future for their young daughter, confirming that “To Kaya, I will always speak of her mother with respect and make sure she remembers the person Hayden truly was.” He extended his condolences to Panettiere’s family, friends and millions of fans around the world, closing with a quiet request: “I ask everyone to please respect our family’s feelings and privacy during this incredibly difficult time. Rest easy, Hayden. May you find eternal peace.”

    The pair first crossed paths in 2009 at a Los Angeles industry party when Panettiere was 19 years old, with Klitschko 13 years her senior. They announced their engagement in 2013, welcomed Kaya in 2014, and never married. Following their daughter’s birth, Panettiere developed severe postpartum depression that exacerbated her struggles with alcohol dependence. Though Klitschko supported her in accessing treatment, when Kaya was three years old, he requested full custody of the child, a request Panettiere reluctantly agreed to.

    In her autobiography published earlier this year, Panettiere opened up about the devastating pain of that arrangement: “Not being under the same roof with her every day has been the most gut-wrenching experience of my life… I grieve that I’m not the mother I thought I’d be, and definitely not the mother I want to be. Trust me, no one should ever have to raise a child on FaceTime.” She added that despite the distance, the deep mother-daughter bond she shared with Kaya never broke.

    In the hours after the news of Panettiere’s death was made public on Monday, an outpouring of tributes flooded social media from co-stars, colleagues and fans who worked with her across her nearly three-decade career. Getting her start as a child actor, Panettiere landed early roles in hit feature films including *Remember the Titans* and *Raising Helen*, before catapulting to global fame for her lead roles in two iconic series: the supernatural drama *Heroes* and the country music drama *Nashville*.

    Connie Britton, Panettiere’s on-screen co-lead in *Nashville*, shared a heartfelt tribute on Instagram alongside photos of the pair performing together on stage. “This was Hayden. Bursting with brilliance, shining so bright,” she wrote. “I have no words for this sad song. Just heartbreak. I love you girl. Sleep easy now.”

    Masi Oka, who starred opposite Panettiere in *Heroes*, echoed that grief in a post to X (formerly Twitter). “I had the privilege of working closely with her, and I’ll always remember her for her beautiful spirit, immense talent, and the joyful energy she brought to everything she did and the people around her,” he wrote. “She was way wiser beyond her years and now gone too soon… Rest in peace, Hayden.”

    Beth Chamberlin, who worked alongside Panettiere as her on-screen mother for three years on the long-running US soap opera *Guiding Light*, remembered the young star’s extraordinary work ethic even as a child. “She was the most brilliant child actor I’ve ever seen,” Chamberlin shared online. “The things she could do, the way she could remember 20+ pages of dialogue, day after day. Even on days where the director would make huge last-minute cuts to scenes between rehearsal and taping, Hayden never once forgot a line or missed her blocking. The adults would, but not Hayden. I felt blessed to work with her.”

    Justin Chatwin, Panettiere’s co-star in her final feature film *Sleepwalker*, released earlier this year, opened up about seeing her struggle with addiction during the 2025 production. “Hayden seemed different when I met her this time than when I crossed paths with her in the early years,” Chatwin told *People* magazine. “I’ve been sober for 15 years, so I know this world of addiction, and Hollywood — it takes, and it takes from youth. I could tell she was struggling… I also know that she was really lonely.”

    As investigations into her cause of death continue, the entertainment community and fans alike remain united in mourning the loss of a talented performer whose career was cut far too short.

  • A Viking longship in ‘The Odyssey’? It’s a case of history meets Hollywood

    A Viking longship in ‘The Odyssey’? It’s a case of history meets Hollywood

    More than two millennia separate the Bronze Age era of Homer’s *The Odyssey* from the Viking age that gave rise to iconic Nordic longships. Yet this striking chronological gap did not stop one world-famous modern Viking ship replica from taking a key spot in Christopher Nolan’s highly anticipated new blockbuster — all thanks to the director’s relentless commitment to practical, real-world filmmaking and the craft of a team of Norwegian shipbuilders and sailors.

    The vessel in question is Draken Harald Harfagre, the largest functional replica of a Viking longship built in modern history. Fitted with tar-soaked rigging, a weathered solid oak deck, and 50 hand-carved spruce oars, the ship is normally moored as a cultural landmark in Oslo, Norway’s capital. For Nolan, however, its anachronistic Viking origins were irrelevant: the ship’s overall shape, construction, and open-sea capability perfectly matched his vision of a Bronze Age trading vessel fit for Odysseus’ legendary post-Trojan War journey. To fit the film’s ancient Greek setting, the ship only required one small modification: the removal of its traditional dragon figurehead, a signature feature of actual Viking vessels from the 8th to 11th centuries.

    Nolan, long famous for rejecting overreliance on computer-generated imagery (CGI) in favor of practical effects and real locations, explained the choice in a recent US television interview: “We found a Viking ship that had been built exactly according to those ancient specifications. And it was very much the whole shape and the rig that we needed to do a Bronze Age ship.” Unlike digital props that can be perfectly manipulated on a screen, the real vessel demanded that cast and crew learn the practical work of traditional sailing: Nolan’s team integrated the Draken’s own experienced sailors into the film’s production crew, and lead actors — including A-lister Matt Damon, who plays Odysseus — trained alongside them to master sailing skills from raising the sail to rowing in sync.

    For months, the Draken sailed through filming locations off the coasts of Greece, Italy, and Scotland, with the ship’s permanent crew rubbing shoulders with Hollywood’s biggest names. Trammell Hudson, one of the Draken’s regular sailors, recalled a chaotic on-set moment that embodied the unscripted authenticity of practical filming: “There was one day where one of the actors who was sitting in front of me got seasick and threw up over the rail. It blew back on me. I thought that would be my big scene, because the IMAX camera was very focused on him and me in the background dodging the debris. But I didn’t see that particular scene in the film.”

    Nolan’s adaptation follows Odysseus’ treacherous 10-year voyage back to his home island of Ithaca following the end of the Trojan War, a story rooted in 12th century BCE Greek legend. For the Draken’s expedition director Emanuel Persson, the choice to use a real, functional sailing ship rather than a digital or soundstage replica adds an intangible authenticity that audiences can perceive. “Most of the scenes would be completely different if it wasn’t for us being there, doing the real thing with the real ship and the real crew in the real ocean and real weather,” he said during the ship’s recent return to Oslo. “I think the viewers can actually feel the genuine materials. I don’t know if you can really smell the tar, but you can tell it’s really genuine handicraft instead of being a digital creation.”

    Bjorn Ahlander, captain of the Draken, praised the cast for their grit while working in tough open-sea conditions. “Matt Damon was very nice and very good. Never complained. Every one of the actors was out for a long time and it was very cold and sometimes rough,” he said. “No complaints, nothing, never. So that was fantastic to see.” Coordinating up to 100 rowers on the longship was no small feat, Hudson added: with oars measuring several meters long, perfect synchronization is required to avoid tangling, and rough seas brought unexpected jolts. He recalled one incident where a direct collision with an oncoming wave threw him and his rowing partner nearly 1.5 meters into the air.

    Not all behind-the-scenes stories from the production are positive, however. Like Penelope, Odysseus’ faithful wife who waited a decade for his return, the owners of a second Viking ship from neighboring Sweden that also featured in the film have endured a long wait of their own: after the vessel sustained damage during filming, they have waited more than a year for the promised compensation, a sour note amid the otherwise triumphant collaboration between history and Hollywood.

  • Shakira makes surprise visit to earthquake-damaged Colombian schools and says she will help rebuild

    Shakira makes surprise visit to earthquake-damaged Colombian schools and says she will help rebuild

    In the wake of a catastrophic 7.4-magnitude earthquake that ripped through western Colombia on August 10, leaving hundreds dead and thousands of educational facilities damaged, global Colombian music icon Shakira has launched a major initiative to restore learning access for children in the hardest-hit, remote region of Chocó. The Grammy-winning superstar made the commitment public during an unannounced visit to Quibdó, Chocó’s capital, on Monday, where she walked through crumpled school grounds, embraced displaced students and posed for photos with communities grappling with the disaster’s aftermath.
    The earthquake, whose epicenter fell within Chocó’s borders, has officially claimed at least 287 lives, destroyed more than 26,000 residential structures and left 194 people unaccounted for, per Colombian government data. Independent civilian-led registries, however, place the missing count at over 4,100. Regional government updates from Monday confirm that at least 3,100 homes in Chocó were leveled, and more than 265 educational sites across the province suffered severe damage. One of Colombia’s poorest regions with a population of roughly 600,000 — most of whom are members of Indigenous tribes and Afro-Colombian communities — Chocó presents unique logistical challenges for relief efforts: roughly the size of Switzerland, it has very few paved connections to the rest of the country, with most remote communities accessible only via river or unpaved roads, slowing damage assessments and aid delivery.
    For Shakira, the disaster hits close to home. Her Barefoot Foundation (Fundación Pies Descalzos), which has worked to expand educational access for vulnerable Colombian youth for nearly three decades, has operated two successful schools in Chocó for 22 years, graduating hundreds of local students. “It’s a place I love, a place where I’ve seen our students grow in our classrooms,” Shakira shared in a video posted to X by Colombian news outlet La FM. “What worries me the most is that schools are not rebuilt once this emergency is over. Every day that children don’t go to school is a day they miss out on their future,” she told reporters during her visit.
    The superstar emphasized that her pledge is a long-term commitment, not a short-term emergency response, pushing back against a history of neglect that has long marginalized Chocó. “There is not a way to alleviate the pain of so many, there are no magic solutions,” she said during a stop at a large Quibdó high school. “But what there is, is commitment to be here alongside those from Chocó, to not abandon El Chocó like it historically has been abandoned, until every Colombian and every person from Chocó can return to their normal lives like they deserve and all the children can return to their schools and dream of the futures they deserve.” In addition to rebuilding 10 primary and secondary schools, Shakira added that she will devote all her personal efforts to restoring Chocó’s local technological university.
    Collaborating on the project is Howard G. Buffett, son of billionaire philanthropist Warren Buffett and a long-time development donor to Colombia who has previously partnered with Shakira on school construction projects in the country. “When she calls, I come,” Buffett said of his involvement. His namesake foundation will partner with the Barefoot Foundation to execute the reconstruction. Two additional major organizations have also committed funding: Global Citizen and Live Nation each pledged $500,000 to the cause.
    Shakira’s commitment is the latest in a wave of support from prominent Latin American and Colombian public figures for earthquake recovery efforts in both Colombia and neighboring Venezuela, which was hit by twin quakes in June. Just last week, the Colombian Football Federation and South American Football Confederation jointly pledged $1 million to Colombian First Lady Ana Lucía Pineda’s “Colombia, one heart” recovery fund. On Sunday, star artists Marc Anthony and Chayanne headlined a star-studded benefit concert and live fundraiser in Miami for both countries’ relief efforts. Colombian reguetonera Karol G has pledged to match all fan donations to her Con Cora Foundation during her recent three-night run at Los Angeles’ SoFi Stadium, and will join fellow Colombian star Maluma, Sebastián Yatra and other artists for a Bogotá benefit concert this coming Sunday. Shakira herself already demonstrated rapid response to the Venezuela quakes, announcing the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund would commit $500,000 to education recovery there just months ago.
    A globally recognized performer who most recently headlined the 2026 FIFA World Cup final halftime show and drew a crowd of 2 million fans to a May concert on Brazil’s Copacabana Beach, Shakira has leveraged her fame for decades to advance education equity across her home country. Monday’s pledge reaffirms her long-standing focus on ensuring no child loses access to learning in the wake of crisis.

  • Tupac Shakur’s accused killer was out for ‘revenge’, jury hears

    Tupac Shakur’s accused killer was out for ‘revenge’, jury hears

    Thirty years after the iconic rapper Tupac Shakur was gunned down in a Las Vegas drive-by shooting, one of the most high-profile cold cases in American entertainment history finally moved into a courtroom on Monday. Prosecutors opened the trial of 63-year-old Duane “Keffe D” Davis, a former leader of Los Angeles’ South Side Compton Crips gang, by laying out a narrative of planned gang retaliation that ended the life of one of hip-hop’s most influential figures at just 25 years old.

    Lead prosecutor Binu Pilal told the Las Vegas jury that the fatal attack was a direct act of revenge for a public, on-camera beating of Davis’ nephew, Orlando Anderson, earlier the same night. On September 7, 1996, Shakur and Death Row Records founder Marion “Suge” Knight were in Las Vegas to attend a boxing match featuring Mike Tyson. The pair confronted Anderson, a Crips member, after he was accused of assaulting a Death Row Records employee, resulting in a humiliating public beating that left Davis enraged, Pilal said. Just two and a half hours after the altercation, Shakur was shot dead when a white Cadillac pulled alongside his vehicle and opened fire.

    According to prosecutors, Davis did not fire the fatal shots himself. Instead, he provided the weapon to a passenger in the back seat of the Cadillac and explicitly ordered the attack on Shakur. Over the decades following the murder, Pilal noted, Davis repeatedly confessed to his role in the killing — to law enforcement, to media outlets, and even in his own 2019 autobiography. “Over the years, in private interviews, in public statements, and even in private calls, Duane Davis has repeatedly told us over and over again about the anger he felt, and his own role in the revenge drive-by shooting of Tupac Shakur,” Pilal told the jury. “And now, nearly 30 years later, we’re going to ask you to finally hold Duane Davis accountable.”

    The killing of Tupac Shakur has long been tied to the infamous 1990s hip-hop rivalry between the U.S. East Coast and West Coast. Born to a Black Panther activist and raised in Harlem and Baltimore, Shakur rose to fame as the face of West Coast hip-hop after signing with Los Angeles-based Death Row Records, delivering career-defining hits including *California Love* and *All Eyez on Me*. Death Row was affiliated with the Mob Piru Bloods gang, while East Coast label Bad Boy Records — founded by Sean “Diddy” Combs and home to rival rapper The Notorious B.I.G. — hired the South Side Compton Crips as personal security, setting the stage for escalating gang tensions that preceded the shooting. The Notorious B.I.G. was himself murdered in a drive-by shooting just six months after Shakur’s killing, deepening the legacy of violence tied to the rivalry.

    For nearly 25 years, the Shakur murder case stalled due to a lack of actionable evidence. The investigation was reignited only after Davis published his memoir in 2019, in which he confirmed he was in the front seat of the Cadillac the night of the shooting and handed the gun to the back-seat shooter, though he never named who pulled the trigger. All other occupants of the vehicle have since died. Davis has since walked back his memoir’s claims, arguing they were overstated bluster crafted by a ghostwriter to boost book sales. He has entered a full plea of not guilty to all charges against him.

    If convicted on the murder charge, Davis faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. The trial is expected to run for more than a month, revisiting decades-old gang ties, hip-hop industry rivalries, and one of the most enduring mysteries in modern American popular culture.

  • Hayden Panettiere: A life of struggles alongside screen success

    Hayden Panettiere: A life of struggles alongside screen success

    Acclaimed American actress Hayden Panettiere, whose decades-long career carried her from child stardom to leading roles in two of television’s biggest hits, has passed away at the age of 36. Her life, defined by early professional success and relentless public attention, was also marked by a long, public battle with personal trauma, addiction, and industry exploitation that she detailed candidly in a memoir released earlier this year.

    Panettiere was born into a showbusiness family; her mother Lesley Vogel was a working actress who guided her daughter into the industry from infancy. She landed her first commercial at just 11 months old, and by age four, she had secured a regular role on the long-running daytime soap opera *One Life to Live*. She moved to another hit soap, *Guiding Light*, at eight years old, building a reputation for a natural, charismatic screen presence that set her apart from many young performers.

    But this early career came at a profound cost, as Panettiere revealed in her autobiography *This Is Me*, published in May 2024. “From a very young age, I lost the chance to have a normal childhood, friends, relationships, and my privacy,” she wrote. Groomed for a life in the spotlight from the start, Panettiere told *The Hollywood Reporter* that “No was never an option” — she described herself as a “little soldier” trained to prioritize work over her own needs.

    By her late teens, Panettiere’s career was rapidly expanding. She voiced Princess Dot in Pixar’s 1998 animated classic *A Bug’s Life*, earning a Grammy nomination for the film’s accompanying children’s read-along album, making her one of the youngest nominees in the award’s history. She went on to share the screen with A-list stars: alongside Denzel Washington in the 2000 sports drama *Remember the Titans*, opposite Kate Hudson in 2004’s *Raising Helen*, and as the lead of the 2006 cheerleading comedy *Bring It On: All or Nothing*. A 2005 on-set fall from a zebra during the filming of *Racing Stripes* left her with chronic back pain that plagued her for more than 20 years, she wrote.

    Panettiere rose to global fame in 2006, when she landed the iconic role of Claire Bennet on the NBC superhero drama *Heroes*. The series, anchored by the famous tagline “Save the cheerleader, save the world,” became a cultural phenomenon, turning 17-year-old Panettiere into a household name. But the new level of stardom brought intense, invasive scrutiny: aggressive paparazzi harassed her regularly, she said, and a tabloid headline focusing on her appearance triggered years of body dysmorphia. “I suffered from body dysmorphia for years because of that, believing that no matter how strong, thin or young I was, there was no escaping the dreaded cottage cheese thighs,” she wrote.

    The pressure of fame also opened the door to her struggles with addiction, Panettiere revealed. A publicist gave her a “happy pill” to manage red carpet anxiety as a teen, an experience she called “the gateway drug that ushered me toward the good of pharmaceuticals and the downfall of addiction.” During her time on *Heroes*, she made the difficult decision to remove her mother from her role as her manager, a choice that led to a bitter rift: when she asked for the change, her mother only responded, “You owe me,” before walking out.

    As a young woman in Hollywood, Panettiere endured repeated sexual harassment and exploitation, she detailed in her memoir. At 18, while dating her *Heroes* co-star Milo Ventimiglia, a senior TV executive forced an unwanted kiss on her at an industry party. On another occasion, an Oscar-winning actor and director exposed himself to her, she claimed, and during a yacht trip, a acquaintance tricked her into entering a bedroom where a famous British singer-songwriter was waiting naked. “My body no longer felt like my own,” she wrote. “The shock was so great it didn’t even occur to me to say no.”

    In 2009, at 19, Panettiere began a relationship with legendary Ukrainian heavyweight boxing champion Wladimir Klitschko, who was 13 years her senior. The couple welcomed a daughter, Kaya, five years later, and Panettiere soon developed severe postpartum depression. She told podcaster Jay Shetty that while she never felt negative toward her daughter, she struggled to connect with the newborn and lived with constant stress and anxiety, turning to heavy drinking to cope with her emotions. When Kaya was three, Klitschko asked Panettiere to sign over full custody, citing concerns about her drinking. Though she initially planned a legal battle, she ultimately agreed, acknowledging her daughter needed stability she could not provide at the time. She called the experience of co-parenting from separate homes “the most gut-wrenching experience of my life,” writing, “Trust me, no one should ever have to raise a child on FaceTime.” Still, she emphasized that her bond with Kaya remained unbreakable.

    Parallel to her personal struggles, Panettiere earned widespread critical acclaim for her lead role as troubled country star Juliette Barnes on the musical drama *Nashville*, which ran for six seasons starting in 2012. The performance earned her two Golden Globe nominations, with critics praising her ability to turn a potentially one-note character into a layered, sympathetic portrait of trauma and fame. What many viewers did not know was how closely the character’s storyline mirrored Panettiere’s real life: both struggled with addiction, postpartum depression, and losing custody of a child. “It was like, OK, this you guys are just mirroring my life,” she said. Reenacting her own trauma for a global audience every week took a devastating toll: “I was suffering from debilitating anxiety and addiction I couldn’t shake, and I had to live through it twice. First at home, as Hayden, and then in front of millions at home, as Juliette.”

    Shortly before *Nashville* wrapped production, Panettiere began a relationship with Brian Hickerson, who later subjected her to repeated domestic abuse, she said. Hickerson would beat her head against walls and once injured her face so badly she stayed inside her home for weeks. He pleaded no contest to domestic abuse charges in 2021 and was sentenced to jail. Panettiere endured another devastating loss in 2023, when her younger brother Jansen died from complications of an enlarged heart.

    In her memoir, Panettiere opened up about the long process of healing and reflection she underwent in her final years. “I’ve always strived to be a positive person, but I grieve all the hours I lost to addiction, my broken relationships, and my loved ones who are no longer here,” she wrote. After years of treatment, she said she had come to accept that she could only change her own path moving forward. She ended her book with a message of quiet hope, writing that she had learned to embrace both her successes and her hardships: “they have made me who I am.”