Entertainment

British comedian and actor Russell Brand faces a lengthy prison sentence after a London jury convicted him of rape and three sexual assaults over offenses dating back more than two decades.The 51-year-old was found guilty at Southwark Crown Court on Thursday of raping a woman at his London home in 2009 and sexually assaulting three others between 2004 and 2009. The jury acquitted him of two additional rape charges and one count of attempted indecent assault.Brand, who denied all seven charges, was remanded in custody, and will be sentenced on Monday. Rape carries four to 19 years in prison, with a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. Sexual assault carries a maximum sentence of ten years. ...

Disney is preparing to slash thousands of jobs and cut costs by as much as 20% in parts of its business, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday, as the entertainment giant struggles with box-office disappointments and mounting criticism of its “woke” agenda.The cuts come amid a growing backlash against Disney’s Marvel franchise, with conservative audiences accusing the studio of prioritizing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) messaging over storytelling after years of blockbuster success.The layoffs could affect the company’s theme parks, television networks, and film studios, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter. CEO Josh D’Amaro reportedly plans to reinvest part of the savings into programming, technology, theme parks, and cruise ships. ...

Thousands of young people danced the night away at a ‘literary rave’ held in Moscow’s Russian State Library, widely known as the Lenin Library, according to organizers.One of Russia’s most famous libraries traded its traditional silence for electronic beats, transforming historic reading halls into dance floors in an unusual attempt to attract a new generation of readers.The event dubbed LitRave took place on Saturday and was organized by publishing group Eksmo-AST in cooperation with the institution. Three dance floors featured electronic music, accompanied by light installations, photo zones, and performances inspired by Russian and foreign literary classics.The historic interiors provided the backdrop for DJs playing techno, electronic pop, and ambient music. The program also featured i...

British screen legend Patrick Stewart, who portrayed Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin and a powerful KGB chief before finding global fame as Captain Picard in Star Trek and Professor Charles Xavier in X-Men, has died aged 86.Stewart passed away at his Los Angeles home on Wednesday after battling Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy body dementia, his representatives confirmed on Thursday. His family said he spent his final days surrounded by loved ones following “a brief and poignant journey” with the illnesses.Born in Yorkshire in 1940, Stewart built his reputation on the British stage, spending decades performing Shakespeare and joining the prestigious Royal Shakespeare Company in the 1960s. ...

The latest Call of Duty game has sparked backlash over footage from South Korea’s deadly 2022 Halloween crowd crush and a fictional war scenario that a local civic group has condemned as “American psychological warfare.”Modern Warfare 4, released by Activision on October 23, introduces its campaign, centered around a fictional North Korean invasion, using seconds-long clips from the infamous Itaewon disaster.The October 29, 2022 incident left more than 150 people dead after Halloween crowds became trapped in a narrow alley in Seoul’s nightlife district.Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is facing backlash from Koreans for allegedly using footage from the actual Itaewon crowd crush, which claimed 159 lives, in the game. They reportedly included footage of people performing CPR at the actual disas...

Spanish police are investigating the disappearance of a tiny Picasso painting that vanished while being transported from Madrid to Granada, according to local media.Valued at €600,000 ($640,000), the gouache and pencil artwork titled ‘Naturaleza muerta con guitarra’ (Still Life with Guitar), was intended for display at an exhibition organized by the CajaGranada Foundation. However, the piece – created in 1919 and measuring 12.7cm by 9.8cm – never arrived.Owned by a private collector in Madrid, it was part of a consignment of loaned exhibits that arrived by van on Friday, October 3. While deliveries were unloaded and checked, some packaged works had not been numbered, complicating verification. The following Monday, artworks under video surveillance were unpacked. ...

The Louvre Museum in Paris has been closed for the day after a robbery on Sunday, local officials have said. Unconfirmed media reports claimed that several criminals stole nine pieces from the Napoleonic jewelry collection.The incident was reported by French Culture Minister Rachida Dati, who said on X that “a robbery took place this morning at the opening of the Louvre Museum.” She added that there are no reports of injuries and that a police investigation is underway. The minister provided no further details.The museum itself said that it will remain closed for the day due to “exceptional reasons.”The newspaper Le Parisien reported, citing a preliminary investigation, that several hooded criminals broke into the world’s most visited art museum through a building where construction work i...

The robbery that took place at the iconic Louvre Museum on Sunday is an “intolerable humiliation” for France, president of the right-wing National Rally party Jordan Bardella has said.The heist took place at around 9:30 a.m. local time, when a group of masked intruders used a truck-mounted basket lift to reach a window on a facade of the museum, officials said. The gang entered the Apollon Gallery and escaped on motorbikes within four to seven minutes, leaving one item – reportedly the crown of Empress Eugenie – damaged and found outside.“The Louvre is a global symbol of our culture. This heist, which allowed thieves to steal the Crown Jewels of France, is an intolerable humiliation for our country,” Bardella, who’s also a member of the European Parliament, wrote on X. “How far will the de...

A video circulating on social media shows thieves stealing priceless French crown jewels from the Louvre in broad daylight on Sunday.In a short cellphone video, a person wearing a bright yellow vest can be seen tampering with a display case at the world-famous museum in Paris.According to France 24, the thieves drove up to the Louvre on scooters, entered the Galerie d’Apollon using an extendable powered ladder, and broke through the window and display cases with angle grinders.The Culture Ministry said eight artifacts were stolen, including a necklace Napoleon gave his wife, Empress Marie Louise, and the diadem of Empress Eugenie, the wife of Napoleon III. READ MORE: Louvre robbery ‘humiliation’ for France – opposition leader They also attempted to steal Eugenie’s crown, but it wa...

In Russian culture, fear has never been just an emotion – it’s a way of making sense of the world. Where Western horror often pits the individual against some invading evil – the ghost, the vampire, the creature in the dark – Russian horror sees evil as something earned, deserved, or even necessary. The monster doesn’t come from the outside. It’s sent as punishment, or reminder.The Russian language is full of proverbs about fear: “Fear has big eyes,” “The eyes fear but the hands keep working,” “Two deaths can’t happen, but one is inevitable.” Fear, in these sayings, is not paralysis but duty – an emotion to be mastered, not escaped. ...