Culture

Summer 2025: Second-Skin Swimsuits with a Spirit of Nature
Summer 2025: Second-Skin Swimsuits with a Spirit of Nature

In countries where swimming lasts from May to October, sometimes longer, a swimsuit is not a vacation whim but a wardrobe staple. It moves from long seaside days to poolside breaks between meetings, from weekend getaways to Monday mornings. This year, it evolves quietly. It softens without losing its sensuality, reinvents itself without resorting ...

Slop: The Digital Waste Flooding Our Feeds
Word of the weekSlop: The Digital Waste Flooding Our Feeds

As generative artificial intelligence (AI) surges, a new term is gaining traction: slop. No longer just a word for literal mud or lukewarm food, in digital lingo it now refers to a rising wave of unwanted, AI-generated content, vacantly produced, algorithmically amplified, and clogging up social media. From Messy Mud to Messy Media In ...

Ancient statue returns to Turkey 65 years later
Ancient statue returns to Turkey 65 years later

Turkey has repatriated an ancient statue believed to depict Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius from the United States as part of efforts to recover antiquities illegally removed from the country, the government announced on Saturday. The bronze statue, smuggled from the ancient city of Boubon—now the province of Burdur in southwest Turkey—in the ...

From Empire to Nation
SpotlightFrom Empire to Nation

In the Levant, Islam took root in the major Mediterranean coastal cities—Jaffa, Haifa, Acre, Sidon, Beirut, Tripoli, Tartus and Latakia. Surrounded by Christian and Jewish hill communities or overshadowed by dominant Christian mountain ranges, these urban populations never felt isolated. Instead, they saw themselves as fully integrated into the ...

Venice Film Festival: Italy Kicks Off with Sorrentino’s 'La Grazia'
SpotlightVenice Film Festival: Italy Kicks Off with Sorrentino’s 'La Grazia'

The acclaimed director will launch the festival on August 27, 2025, with this highly anticipated work, fifteen years after leaving a mark with Il Divo or La Grande Bellezza. Early commentators have described La Grazia as a “love letter to Italy, to cinema and to powerful women.” The world premiere will take place at the historic Palazzo del ...

France Museum Visitor Eats Million-Dollar Banana Artwork Again
France Museum Visitor Eats Million-Dollar Banana Artwork Again

A visitor to a French museum bit into a fresh banana worth millions of dollars taped to a wall last week, exhibitors said on Friday, in the latest such consumption of the conceptual artwork. Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan — whose provocative creation entitled Comedian was bought for $6.2 million in New York last year — said he was ...

Paris Dusts off Statues of Trailblazing Women from 2024 Olympics
Paris Dusts off Statues of Trailblazing Women from 2024 Olympics

Paris on Friday installed the first of 10 statues of pioneering French women displayed during the 2024 Olympics in a northern district of the capital. The 10 statues featured as part of the French capital's boundary-breaking opening ceremony for the Summer Games in July last year. They include Simone Veil, who spearheaded the legalization of ...

Fire Can’t Stop the Music: Tomorrowland Festival Reopens with New Stage
Fire Can’t Stop the Music: Tomorrowland Festival Reopens with New Stage

Belgium's Tomorrowland, one of the world's largest electronic music festivals, opened its doors as planned on Friday, after the event was thrown into doubt by a fire that destroyed its main stage. Organizers said an "alternative setup" was put in place to replace the "beloved main stage" that went up in flames on Wednesday. The causes of the ...

Catherine, Princess of Wales: Her Wardrobe Speaks Volumes
SpotlightCatherine, Princess of Wales: Her Wardrobe Speaks Volumes

On official visits, Catherine, Princess of Wales, engages in a silent yet strategic diplomacy through her style. From national colors and local designers to heirloom jewelry, every element is deliberate. Her wardrobe becomes curated art, a refined dialogue between nations. Catherine, Princess of Wales, applauds from the Royal Box on Centre ...

Netflix Soars: Profits Up, Ads Booming, Subscribers Engaged
Netflix Soars: Profits Up, Ads Booming, Subscribers Engaged

Netflix reported stronger than expected second-quarter results Thursday, with profit jumping 45 percent year-over-year as the streaming giant benefited from subscription price increases and a growing advertising business. Revenue climbed 16 percent to $11.1 billion in the quarter ended June 30, beating analyst estimates and the company's own ...

Snoop Dogg Joins Swansea City as Co-Owner
Snoop Dogg Joins Swansea City as Co-Owner

Snoop Dogg has become co-owner of Championship side Swansea City in an unlikely alliance between the world of rap and football, the Welsh club has announced. The 53-year-old American star joins former Real Madrid stalwart and Croatia World Cup finalist Luka Modrić in the club's ownership structure. Snoop Dogg made a surprise appearance on the ...

Ivory Coast Bets Big on Cinema to Rival Nollywood
Ivory Coast Bets Big on Cinema to Rival Nollywood

In the lush forests north of Abidjan, technicians were busy filming on the set of Le Testament (The Will), a comedy co-production between Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso and Senegal. Under a large tree, village elders gathered to discuss the death of a wealthy local cocoa planter. In the film, his children return to their native village and bicker over ...