Microsoft on Wednesday faced its biggest challenge yet in its effort to buy US video game powerhouse Activision Blizzard, with the decision by the UK to block the deal.. But in January 2022, the American behemoth pitched the biggest acquisition in the history of the sector with its offer to buy Activision Blizzard for $69 billion.
Three-time Oscar winner Meryl Streep on Wednesday won Spain's top arts prize, the Princess of Asturias award, for her "unforgettable performances" in a career spanning over five decades.. The 50,000-euro ($55,000) award is one of eight prizes covering the arts, science and other areas that are handed out annually by the foundation named for Spanish Crown Princess Leonor.
More than 1,500 items from Freddie Mercury's private collection, including costumes, unique objects and previously unseen handwritten draft lyrics, will be auctioned later this year, Sotheby's announced on Wednesday.. Previously unseen handwritten lyrics to Queen's "We Are The Champions", one of the band's best-known anthems, will also go on sale.
Three suitcases sit piled on top of one another in 95-year-old Yoro Diao's cramped studio apartment outside Paris.. - 'Neglected' - In his small room in the Paris suburb of Bondy, Diao pulled a fourth suitcase from beneath his bed.
Getting hit by a truck doesn't sound like anyone's favourite fantasy, but it's an idea central to an escapist type of Japanese anime exploding in popularity.. Popular series include "Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation" -- the tale of a 34-year-old "jobless male virgin" who is hit by a truck and reincarnated as an infant with magical powers.
Japan's powerhouse anime business risks being overtaken by rising Chinese competition because a tilt towards commercialism has stifled creativity, industry heavyweight Masao Maruyama has warned.. Maruyama doesn't draw or direct, but he has clout that few in Japan's anime industry can match because of the breadth of the behind-the-scenes roles he has played -- from studio founder and recruiter to fixer.
Weeks after a health scare, Pope Francis heads to Hungary Friday to meet Ukrainian refugees and nationalist leader Viktor Orban, with whom he has not always seen eye to eye.. During an audience with Orban a year ago at the Vatican, the pope thanked the Hungarian leader -- who comes from a Calvinist background -- for the welcome accorded to refugees.
Celebrating its 100th year, Warner Bros unveiled a packed lineup of new big-screen films at CinemaCon on Tuesday, from a live-action "Barbie" comedy to Oprah Winfrey and Steven Spielberg's remake of "The Color Purple.". Oprah Winfrey took to the stage to introduce her and Steven Spielberg's new version of "The Color Purple," out Christmas Day.
French director Catherine Corsini dismissed claims about on-set harassment and the presence of a child in a sex scene on Tuesday following criticism over her inclusion in the Cannes Film Festival. . In a statement, Corsini and her producer Elisabeth Perez addressed criticisms that a 15-year-old actress was used in a sex scene in their new film, "The Return", which is competing at next month's festival.
Ed Sheeran arrived at US federal court Tuesday for a trial over whether the British pop star plagiarized American music icon Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On" in his own 2014 hit "Thinking Out Loud.". The plaintiffs are the heirs of Ed Townsend, a musician and producer who co-wrote Gaye's 1973 soul classic, who were also in court Tuesday.
