MEDIA & CULTURE

Fiona Harvey has identified herself as the real-life "Martha," the delusional, violent and abusive woman at the center of Richard Gadd's global phenomenon, which claims in its opening episode to be "a true story."

Some of the world's finest singers will perform arias, including Russian soprano Anna Netrebko, German tenor Jonas Kaufmann, French baritone Ludovic Tezier and Italian soprano Eleonora Buratto.

Created by potters Hugo Osorio and Pedro Fuentes, 25 figures so far form a sort of artificial reef in the blue waters around the paradisiacal Isla Fuerte, off the coast of Colombia.

The Scottish capital attracts lovers of the bespectacled schoolboy from across the world, boosting the UK economy and helping generate billions of pounds in global sales of Potter-related offerings.

Tucked away in the basement of an old mall lies gleaming Singapore's only heavy metal bar, where music fans brush shoulder-to-shoulder with international rockers who helped pioneer the genre.

Every year, nearly 800,000 tourists wander through the alleys of Binibeca Vell, a tiny whitewashed village nicknamed "the Spanish Mykonos" for its resemblance to the famous Greek island which attracts huge crowds of visitors.

The eight-part show -- subtitled "The Diamond Bazaar" in English -- portrays courtesans in the "royal neighborhood" of pre-partition Lahore, once a hub of culture and political intrigue.

As the harvest season ends and schools finish for the summer, villagers climb atop tractor trolleys, buses and rickshaws to head to the annual celebrations at Sufi shrines dotted across the country.

Director Sean Baker was confirmed as one of the leading voices of American indie cinema with the prize, which also promises to make a star of 25-year-old Mikey Madison.

The Japanese dog whose photo inspired a generation of oddball online jokes and the $23-billion Dogecoin cryptocurrency beloved by Elon Musk died on Friday, her owner said.

Singer Casandra Ventura said Thursday -- in her first comments since video emerged of her being beaten by rap mogul and former partner Sean "Diddy" Combs -- that domestic violence "broke" her.

The US Department of Justice filed a major antitrust lawsuit Thursday seeking to break up an alleged monopoly in the live music industry between concert promoter Live Nation Entertainment and its subsidiary, bookings website Ticketmaster.

The Oscar winner ("Darkest Hour") also addressed controversial remarks he had recently made about his role in the "Harry Potter" films, which upset some fans of the boy wizard.

Youn Sung-ho, who goes by the moniker NewJeansNim, is a comedian-turned-musician. He is credited with reviving Buddhism's popularity among young South Koreans -- even as his performances have ruffled feathers regionally.

The Oscar-winning studio, founded 40 years ago, is beloved worldwide for masterpieces like "My Neighbor Totoro", "Spirited Away" and "Howl's Moving Castle".

The festival -- considered the film industry's foremost get-together -- concludes with its award ceremony on Saturday, with "Barbie" director Greta Gerwig heading the jury.

Jewish migrants escaping pogroms and persecution in Europe flocked to the New World where they hoped for better opportunities, said exhibition curator Dara Jaffe.

Will history repeat itself as Coppola, 85, returns to the French Cote d'Azur to premiere "Megalopolis", a $120-million project he self-funded by selling part of his California wine estate and which has been gestating for some 40 years?

Both Sotheby's and rival auction house Christie's launched their spring season Monday. Though the global art market softened last year, strong sales in London and Paris have sparked optimism for 2024.

Blanchett, Jessica Chastain and Colin Farrell are among the A-list talent attached to projects in the "Immersive" section, a new venture for the world's most famous film festival, which is currently taking place in the south of France.

The 12-day festival officially kicks off in the evening with an honorary award for Meryl Streep -- just one of a host of international A-listers flocking to the sun-drenched Cote d'Azur, where legendary directors George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola top the VIP guest list.

Concord, a rival to Hipgnosis, said in a statement that it would not hike its $1.5-billion bid after Blackstone agreed a $1.6-billion offer.

Thousands of fans were already visiting the La Defense Arena 24 hours before the show just to get their hands on the merchandise as soon as possible.

US singer Katy Perry said even her own mother was fooled by AI-generated fake images she posted Tuesday of herself pretending to attend the Met Gala in New York.

Drake, the highest-grossing rapper in the world last year, and Lamar, a Pulitzer Prize winner, have been locked in an escalating war of words in a music genre long known for celebrating and obsessing over beefs between its biggest stars.

The companies released a joint statement that said the new deal included "improved remuneration" for artists and songwriters under the Universal Music Group (UMG) umbrella, and will also assuage concerns over the growth of AI-generated content on TikTok.

Madonna's long-awaited free concert on Rio de Janeiro's Copacabana Beach has upended the neighborhood, with over a million fans expected -- but for retired resident Mario Renato Borges, it's the least the singer deserves.

Paul Auster, the prolific American novelist whose works included "The New York Trilogy," has died of complications from lung cancer, a friend of the novelist told AFP. He was 77.

The 75-year-old actor, who has made more than 200 films and television series, was charged with rape in 2020 and was forced to put his career on hold last autumn as allegations of sexual harassment and assault mounted against him.