Entertainment

Celine Dion cancels 2023-2024 shows over health

Pop icon Celine Dion on Friday cancelled all her remaining shows scheduled for 2023-2024, saying she was not strong enough to tour as she battles a rare neurological disorder.. A statement released by her tour said: "With a sense of tremendous disappointment, Celine Dion's Courage World Tour today announced the cancellation of all remaining dates currently on sale for 2023 and 2024."

Actor Hugh Grant wins bid to take Sun publisher to trial

British actor Hugh Grant on Friday won a court bid to bring to trial his claim against the UK publisher of The Sun newspaper for unlawfully gathering information.. Grant, 62, alleges journalists and private investigators working for News Group Newspapers (NGN) targeted him and attended a hearing last month in which his lawyer argued the claims should go to trial.

This year's Eurovision reached 162 million viewers

Some 162 million viewers watched this year's Eurovision song competition held in Liverpool, the BBC said Friday also highlighting "record" engagement online.. Sweden's Loreen secured a seventh victory for the Nordic country with the track "Tattoo" and made Eurovision history as the first woman to win the competition twice. 

Ageing maestros and strong women at epic Cannes film fest

This year's Cannes Film Festival has been an epic mix of ground-breaking women's perspectives and nostalgic homages to icons of the 20th century.. - Old masters - At times, Cannes felt like a sort of dream retirement home populated by ageing male film icons. 

Roll out the green carpet: Bollywood struts its stuff in UAE

Some of Bollywood's biggest stars will walk the distinctive green carpet on Saturday as the UAE hosts the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards, a showcase for the flagging Hindi-language movie industry.. The stars will tread the green carpet -- adopted in 2007 in a nod to climate change -- after a year when Bollywood, Mumbai's Hindi movie machine, has misfired post-pandemic.

Madrid's Diaz Ayuso, a right-wing thorn in PM's side

An outspoken right-wing hardliner who makes no secret of her national ambitions, Spain's Isabel Diaz Ayuso is seeking re-election as Madrid's regional leader through blistering attacks on Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.. On the other hand, "she wants to set the party line", even if it means going over the head of its more moderate leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo, making clear "that her ambitions are national", said Ana Sofia Cardenal of Catalonia's Open University. 

FBI files uncover plot to kill UK's Queen Elizabeth II

A newly released cache of FBI files has revealed a potential plot to assassinate Queen Elizabeth II during her 1983 visit to California.. The queen, who died last September aged 96, has previously been reported to have been the target of other assassination plots.

Berlin police probe Pink Floyd's Roger Waters over Nazi-style uniform

Berlin police said Friday they were investigating Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters for incitement to hatred after he donned a Nazi-style uniform at a concert in the German capital.. "We are investigating on suspicion of incitement to public hatred because the clothing worn on stage could be used to used to glorify or justify Nazi rule, thereby disturbing the public peace," police spokesman Martin Halweg told AFP, confirming an earlier report by Jewish News.

Geriatric Croisette: Loach leads old white dudes at Cannes

While much talk at Cannes this year has been about the unprecedented seven women directors in competition, an impressive cavalcade of old white guys has also charmed the French Riviera festival, with 86-year-old Ken Loach entering the race on Friday. . He is the oldest director of the 21 in competition at the film festival -- but not by much. 

'City of Joy' inspiration still working for India's poor

Decades after inspiring a best-selling novel that brought readers into slums near Kolkata, 86-year-old ascetic Gaston Dayanand is still working for India's poorest.. "The church would never have let me live in a slum with the poor, but my life was about sharing with the poorest."