Entertainment

- Europe's medicines regulator said on Friday it was reviewing reports of a rare condition affecting the nerves following vaccination with AstraZeneca's COVID-19 shot, and requested the British drugmaker for more detailed data. As part of a regular review of safety reports for the vaccine, Vaxzevria, the European Medicines Agency's safety committee is analysing data provided on cases of Guillain-Barre syndrome, the regulator said. AstraZeneca did not immediately respond to requests for comment. (Reporting by Pushkala Aripaka in Ben...

LONDON - British band Coldplay chose an out of this world way to mark the release of their latest single "Higher Power" on Friday - by beaming up into space. The rock group, known for hit songs "Paradise" and "Viva la Vida", linked up with the International Space Station (ISS) to speak with French ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet about life in space. They also shared a recorded outdoor performance of their new song, featuring colourful alien holograms dancing to the tune, to Pesquet, who played it on board the ISS. "Right now we aren't able to play f...

LOS ANGELES - The membership of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the group that hands out the annual Golden Globe awards for television and film, on Thursday approved widespread changes designed to diversify its ranks and address ethics complaints. Steps include hiring a chief diversity officer, emphasizing recruitment of Black journalists, and widening the pool of potential applicants for the group of foreign entertainment journalists. The organization also voted to add at least 20 new members to the current 87 this year and to expand its roster by 50...

- English football club Ipswich Town may have fallen on hard times but they are hoping a new shirt sponsorship deal with singer Ed Sheeran will make them the "A Team" with the ginger-haired crooner's fans. Ipswich, nicknamed 'The Tractor Boys', were FA Cup winners in 1978 and won the UEFA Cup, forerunner of the Europa League, in 1981 but now find themselves in the third-tier League One. The one season deal with singer/songwriter Sheeran, who lives near Ipswich and is a fan of the team, will see a logo featuring mathematical symbols (plus, minus, equals, divide,...

By Alicia Powell NEW YORK - British-Nigerian actor David Oyelowo makes his feature film directorial debut with "The Water Man", a family drama about a young boy who heads off in search of a legendary figure with magical powers to heal his sick mother. Oyelowo, known for appearing in historical dramas like "Selma" and "A United Kingdom", also acts in the movie, playing the father of the young protagonist Gunner. After the family move to a rural town, Gunner, played by Lonnie Chavis, befriends a local girl who tells him of the mysterious "Water Man"...

LE CATEAU-CAMBRESIS, France - Valeriane Michelini trained as a dancer before opting to tap into the growing demand for stuntwomen and a career of jumping out of helicopters, leaping from buildings and brawling. Michelini is one of a growing number of women passing through the Campus Univers Cascade (CUC), which bills itself as the world's biggest stunt school, and looking to break into European cinema and Hollywood as a stunt double. "I'm used to thriving in a graceful and feminine world," the 29-year-old said between rounds of simulated fights. "And now, I'm ...

British street artist Nathan Murdoch contemplates the mural he has just spray-painted, a giant image of two hands wearing rainbow-coloured gloves and joined in prayer, then hurls a large dollop of white paint straight at it from an open tin.

By Lisa Richwine -Live Broadway shows will return to the stage starting Sept. 14 after an 18-month hiatus to fight the coronavirus pandemic, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced on Wednesday. Tickets will go on sale beginning on Thursday and theaters will be allowed to fill 100% of capacity, Cuomo said. Broadway theaters are among New York's biggest tourist attractions. "Broadway is a major part of our state's identity and economy, and we are thrilled that the curtains will rise again," Cuomo said on Twitter. Live theater is one of t...

By Lisa Richwine LOS ANGELES - Live Broadway shows will return to the stage on Sept. 14 after an 18-month hiatus to fight the coronavirus pandemic, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced on Wednesday. Tickets will go on sale starting on Thursday and theaters will be allowed to fill 100% of capacity, Cuomo said. Broadway theaters are among New York's biggest tourist attractions. "Broadway is a major part of our state's identity and economy, and we are thrilled that the curtains will rise again," Cuomo said on Twitter. Live theater i...

CARACAS - Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro received a samurai sword as a gift from actor Steven Seagal, who was visiting the South American country as a representative of Russia, state television images showed on Tuesday evening. Maduro, wearing a white facemask and a traditional Venezuelan black long sleeve shirt known as a liqui liqui, positioned the sword over his shoulder as Seagal nodded and pointed in affirmation, the images broadcast from the Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas showed. Seagal, a U.S.-born martial artist, is best known for produc...

OSLO - Five Swedish nuclear reactors may need to close between 2024 and 2028 because a temporary site for storing spent fuel will soon be full and the government has yet to approve a final waste repository, their operating companies said on Wednesday. The Forsmark 4 reactor risks closure in 2024, followed in 2025 by Forsmark 3, Ringhals 3 and 4 and finally Forsmark 1 in 2028, the operators said in urgent market messages posted via power exchange Nord Pool. Ringhals is owned by a consortium comprising Vattenfall and Uniper, while Forsmark is owned by the same tw...

By Alicia Powell NEW YORK - Billy Crystal returns to the director's chair after 20 years for "Here Today", in which he also plays a well-known comedy writer who unexpectedly becomes friends with a street jazz singer. Tiffany Haddish portrays performer Emma who wins a lunch with the veteran writer Charlie Burnz, despite not knowing who he is. Despite some initial setbacks, a friendship develops and she soon takes on an important role as Burnz deals with the onset of dementia. In a joint interview with , Crystal and Haddish spoke about the comedy ...

LOS ANGELES - Pop singer Britney Spears spoke out on Tuesday about recent documentaries about her life and career, calling them "hypocritical" because they rehash her personal problems while criticizing the media for reporting them the first time. Walt Disney Co's FX network and The New York Times released "Framing Britney Spears" in February. The documentary examined the singer's meteoric rise to fame as a teenager, the ensuing media scrutiny and her widely publicized breakdown.And this month, the BBC released "The Battle for Britney: Fans, Cash and a Conservatorship" in Br...

By Jonathan Stempel NEW YORK - A man who said he was sexually assaulted at age 14 by the actor Kevin Spacey in the 1980s must identify himself if he is to continue his $40 million civil lawsuit against the Oscar winner, a federal judge ruled. U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan said on Monday that Spacey's fame "magnified" the public's legitimate interest in knowing the identity of the plaintiff, known as "C.D." The Manhattan judge also said it would also unfairly burden the 61-year-old Spacey by forcing him to defend against an unknown accuser. ...

By Hanna Rantala LONDON - A Black teenager on trial for murder fights to clear his name and reclaim his identity in "Monster", a film that dives headlong into issues that have animated the Black Lives Matter movement and often led the news agenda in recent times. The Netflix drama follows 17-year-old Steve Harmon, a promising film student played by Kelvin Harrison Jr., who insists he is innocent after he is arrested for his alleged part in a fatal robbery at a bodega in Harlem, New York. "It is right on time and it's so necessary. I don't think it...

- Late-night talk show host Conan O'Brien will host his long-running nightly TBS "Conan" talkshow for the last time on June 24, WarnerMedia said on Monday, ahead of his shift to a new show on HBO Max. The final weeks of the TBS show will feature a line-up of special guests, culminating in an extended hour-long finale recapping his 11-year run. "The plan is to re-emerge on HBO Max sometime in the near future with I think what will be my fourth iteration of a program," O'Brien said at the start of "Conan" on Monday. WarnerMedia said O'Brien's HBO Ma...

By Lisa Richwine LOS ANGELES - The board of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the group that hands out the annual Golden Globe awards for television and film, proposed several changes on Monday to address criticism over its membership's diversity and ethics. In a letter to members, the HFPA board suggested several steps to diversify its roster, including hiring a chief diversity officer, putting emphasis on recruiting Black journalists and widening the pool of potential applicants. The board also proposed adding at least 20 new members in 2...

LOS ANGELES - Walt Disney Co's Marvel Studios on Monday encouraged superhero fans to return to movie theaters, a show of support for pandemic-battered cinemas trying to stage a comeback amid competition from streaming services. "See you at the movies," said a three-minute-long trailer designed to stir excitement for 10 upcoming Marvel films including "Black Widow," "Eternals" and a "Black Panther" sequel. The video also showed footage from inside a theater of fans reacting to the decisive battle scene in "Avengers: Endgame" in April 2019. The ...

Twitter Inc said on Monday it will introduce a new feature to let users charge admission to their live audio chat rooms in its "Spaces" feature, as the social media company seeks to court more content creators.

LONDON - British foreign office minister James Cleverly said on Monday he could not condone the actions of soccer fans who forced their way into Manchester United's stadium to protest against the club's owners, causing the postponement of a match. "(We) cannot, cannot condone the images that we've seen about storming the ground," Cleverly told Sky News. "But we do need to understand the frustrations that fans have not just with Manchester United, but with a number of clubs across the game."   (Reporting by William James; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)...