Fascism is history, Italy's far-right leader Giorgia Meloni declared Wednesday in a video message aimed at international critics alarmed by her predicted victory in September 25 elections.. "I have been reading that the victory of Fratelli d'Italia in the September elections would mean a disaster, leading to an authoritarian turn, Italy's departure from the euro and other nonsense of this sort.
Scandal-plagued former premier Silvio Berlusconi said Wednesday he hoped to return to Italy's parliament in September elections, almost a decade after being forced out over a conviction for tax fraud.. The Senate expelled him in November 2013 following his conviction for tax fraud, and he was banned from taking part in a general election for six years.
British cartoonist and illustrator Raymond Briggs called himself "a miserable old git".. Briggs later admitted that it was based on himself -- a "miserable, disillusioned, depressed middle-aged man".
British cartoonist and illustrator Raymond Briggs, whose creation "The Snowman" became a Christmas staple for generations of children, has died aged 88, his publisher Penguin Random House said Wednesday.. "Raymond's books are picture masterpieces that address some of the fundamental questions of what it is to be human, speaking to both adults and children," said Francesca Dow, managing director of Penguin Random House Children's.
One of India's biggest stars is banking on a remake of Hollywood feelgood hit "Forrest Gump" to revive the fortunes of Hindi-language Bollywood, after a string of weak box-office showings.. - Competition - Recent silver-screen hits have not come from Hindi-language Bollywood but are in other Indian languages, such as action flicks "Pushpa", "KGF: Chapter 2" and "RRR".
Lamont Dozier, part of the acclaimed songwriting trio behind hits from artists including the Supremes and the Isley Brothers, has died.. "It was as if we were playing the lottery and winning every time," Dozier wrote in his 2019 autobiography "How Sweet It Is." The prolific songwriter left the trio in 1973 to focus on a solo career, at one point working with Phil Collins on the hit "Two Hearts" for the 1988 film "Buster."
In the bowels of an imposing modernist tower in Paris, Laurent Duplouy carefully handles a pristine copy of "Tomb Raider" before slotting it back on the shelf alongside thousands of other classic video games.. But Duplouy is adamant the video game collection is not out of place in the august surroundings.
Clad in a fluorescent jumpsuit and high-top sneakers, Cool Fawa grabs the microphone and fires up the audience.. - Radical rap - Such problems do not deter Cool Fawa, meaning "Cool Girl".
The French military has banned Russian nationals from visiting the Chateau de Vincennes, a mediaeval fortress and tourist attraction on the edge of Paris, due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, officials told AFP. Once the residence of French kings and among Europe's best-preserved monuments of its kind, the castle is for the most part open to the public, including for tours, concerts, theatre plays and other events.. Contacted by AFP, the defence ministry confirmed late Monday that it had, indeed, "restricted access to military installations to Russian nationals" because of the invasion.
Japanese fashion designer Issey Miyake, whose global career spanned more than half a century, has died aged 84, an employee at his office in Tokyo told AFP on Tuesday.. He established the Miyake Design Studio in Tokyo in 1970, and soon afterwards opened his first Paris boutique.
