Cultural News and informations

Golf world rejoices in Tiger's return

Tiger Woods' announcement Tuesday that he will return to competitive golf at the Masters next month touched off joy around the golf world that the world's top-ranked player will be back.

Woods has not played since winning the Australian Masters in mid-November after a sex scandal in which he admitted cheating on wife Elin, apologizing for igniting a tabloid frenzy where more than a dozen women have claimed affairs.

Source : www.france24.com | 17-mars-2010 00:26

Tiger's return will rival Obama's inaugural for TV spectacle

Scandal-rocked Tiger Woods making his return to golf at next month's Masters after a five-month layoff will rival the inauguration of US President Barack Obama as a television spectacle.

That's the opinion of Sean McManus, the CBS News and Sports president whose division will produce US coverage of a global ratings blockbuster April 8-11 at Augusta National Golf Club following Woods' comeback announcement Tuesday.

Source : www.france24.com | 17-mars-2010 00:26

City Center to Embark on $75 Million Renovation
City Center is embarking on a renovation and restoration of its landmark neo-Moorish building on West 55th Street.


Source : www.nytimes.com | 17-mars-2010 00:24

Dotcom celebrates 25th birthday

Recognize Symbolics.com? Probably not. But 25 years ago this week the Massachusetts computer maker played a bit role in history -- it was the first company to register a .com address on what would eventually become known as the World Wide Web.

Only five companies would join Symbolics.com in 1985 in registering their dotcom names with DARPA, the Pentagon technology research agency which was behind the precursor to the Internet.

Source : www.france24.com | 17-mars-2010 00:06

Brain damage linked to prenatal meth exposure

A developing fetus exposed to methamphetamine can cause far more damaging brain, cognitive and behavioral problems than prenatal exposure to alcohol, a study said Tuesday.

University of California Los Angeles professor Elizabeth Sowell and her colleagues used structural magnetic resonance imaging (sMRI) to evaluate the specific effects of prenatal meth-exposure by comparing the brain scans of 61 children.

Among the participating children, 21 had prenatal meth and alcohol exposure, 13 had heavy alcohol exposure only and 27 were not exposed to either meth or alcohol.

Source : www.france24.com | 17-mars-2010 00:06

Khan looks to spark US support by beating Malignaggi

Britain's Amir Khan hopes to spark American support by defending his World Boxing Association super lightweight crown here on May 15 against US veteran Paulie Malignaggi.

Khan, 22-1 with 16 knockouts, hopes to build a US fan base with a victory over former world champion Malignaggi, 27-3 with five knockouts.

"I don't only want to win the fight. I want to win with good style," Khan said. "I know there's going to be a lot of pressure on me without the home crowd, but I know the fans are going to start to love me."

Source : www.france24.com | 16-mars-2010 23:46

Opera: At Brooklyn Academy of Music: Retelling Actaeon?s Tragic End
On Thursday, Les Arts Florissants presents a double bill of baroque operas ? Charpentier?s ?Actéon? and Purcell?s ?Dido and Aeneas.?


Source : www.nytimes.com | 16-mars-2010 23:42

Movie Review | 'Mid-August Lunch': Gianni Di Gregorio?s Film Studies the Glow of Old Age
Gianni Di Gregorio?s luminous sliver of a film, ?Mid-August Lunch,? is a Chekhovian vignette about the joys and regrets of old age and the pleasures of sociability.


Source : movies.nytimes.com | 16-mars-2010 23:31

Museum Review: Where the Jewish Star Meets the Union Jack
The Newly expanded Jewish Museum London offers testimony to a long history in which England and the Jews were locked in a complicated embrace.


Source : www.nytimes.com | 16-mars-2010 23:18

Music Review: A String Quartet?s Nod to Debussy at Angel Orensanz Foundation
Watching Brooklyn Rider play music from its new CD, ?Dominant Curve,? it was hard not to think about how string quartets have revamped their image in the last quarter century.


Source : www.nytimes.com | 16-mars-2010 22:59

Books of The Times: A Call for the Commonweal: Tony Judt?s ?Ill Fares the Land?
Tony Judt?s new book is a dying man?s sense of a dying idea: the notion that the state can play a significant role in its citizens? lives without imperiling their liberties.


Source : www.nytimes.com | 16-mars-2010 22:53

Music Review | 'Sondheim: The Birthday Concert': A Little Birthday Music for Sondheim
Stephen Sondheim?s forthcoming 80th birthday was celebrated in a thrilling concert at Avery Fisher Hall.


Source : www.nytimes.com | 16-mars-2010 22:53

A Bridge Over Musicians? Visa Barrier Into the U.S.
Of the 2,000 bands at the annual South by Southwest Music and Media Conference this week in Austin, Tex., more than 500 are from outside the United States.


Source : www.nytimes.com | 16-mars-2010 22:51

Music Review | Trinity Choir and Trinity Baroque Orchestra: At Trinity, Andrew Parrott Leads a Full-Bodied ?Passion?
It is, you might think, the season for Bach Passions in New York.


Source : www.nytimes.com | 16-mars-2010 22:46

Special Report: Museums: Don't Think of Them as Mausoleums
Restaurants and events are attracting increasing numbers of visitors to museums despite the economic downturn.


Source : www.nytimes.com | 16-mars-2010 21:00

Special Report: Museums: Reopening of Palazzo Grimani Revives Memory of Creator
Giovanni Grimani was not only a passionate collector and patron of the arts but also an extraordinary architect and interior designer.


Source : www.nytimes.com | 16-mars-2010 21:00

CULTURE: Chatting with Monsieur Chat at Paris graffiti show
If you've ever spent time in Paris you likely noticed Monsieur Chat curled up on the sides of buildings and chimney stacks across the French capital. The bright yellow smiling cat appears at a new exhibition in the city's business district.
Source : www.english.rfi.fr | 16-mars-2010 17:49

CULTURE: Burton, Cotillard given France's top cultural honour
American film director Tim Burton and Oscar-winning French actress Marion Cotillard have collected France?s highest artistic prize this week, the Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres.
Source : www.english.rfi.fr | 16-mars-2010 17:45

MUSIC: Sony pays $250m for Jackson distribution rights
Music industry giant Sony has agreed to pay Michael Jackson's estate 250 million dollars to purchase exclusive distribution rights for forthcoming projects associated with the late pop idol through to 2017.
Source : www.france24.com | 16-mars-2010 14:42

US senator moves to protect whales

US Senator John Kerry on Monday introduced a bill to protect whales, sending a message as nations debate a compromise that critics say would end a moratorium on commerical whaling.

Kerry's bill, which is similar to a bill before the House of Representatives, would affirm US support for a 1986 ban by the International Whaling Commission (IWC) on commercial whaling.

It would also call for research on whale habitats and look for ways to end harm and harassment of the ocean giants.

Source : www.france24.com | 16-mars-2010 12:46

Efforts to save tiger have 'failed miserably'

Thirty-five years of efforts to save tigers in the wild have been "failed miserably" and the great cat is walking ever closer to extinction, the head of the UN's wildlife trade body warned on Monday.

"If we use tiger numbers as a performance indicator, then we must admit that we have failed miserably and that we are continuing to fail," said Willem Wijnstekers, secretary general of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).

Source : www.france24.com | 16-mars-2010 12:46

Yemen air raids kill three Qaeda members: official

Strikes by the Yemeni air force killed three Al-Qaeda members, including the group's leader in Abyan, a security official in the southern province said on Tuesday.

"The leader of Al-Qaeda in Abyan, Jamil Nasser Abdullah al-Ambari, Samir al-Sanaani and Ahmed Amzarba were killed" in Sunday's raid, provincial security director Colonel Abdel Razak al-Marwani said.

Ambari, a 25-year-old from Aden, the main city in the south, was on an interior ministry list of 152 wanted militants.

Source : www.france24.com | 16-mars-2010 12:46

Oil extends rise on eve of OPEC meeting

World oil prices rebounded slightly on Tuesday, after recent heavy losses, with traders on tenterhooks on the eve of a key production meeting of the OPEC oil cartel in Vienna.

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for April delivery rose 42 cents to 80.22 dollars a barrel.

London's Brent North Sea crude for April delivery was up 48 cents to 78.37 dollars. The contract expires at the close.

Source : www.france24.com | 16-mars-2010 12:46

Japan says China also opposes bluefin tuna trade ban

Japan on Tuesday said it has China's support in opposing a ban on the cross-border trade in Atlantic bluefin tuna that is now being debated at an international meeting in Qatar.

Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Hirotaka Akamatsu said that "we will do our best" to block a trade ban, which has US and European Union support, at the world talks on wildlife protection.

"China has not announced its stance officially, but is actively lobbying other countries to oppose" the ban, Akamatsu told reporters in Tokyo.

Source : www.france24.com | 16-mars-2010 12:27

Sony and Michael Jackson Estate Sign Sweeping Contract
The deal gives Sony the rights to sell the artist?s back catalog and draw on a large vault of unheard recordings.


Source : www.nytimes.com | 16-mars-2010 12:20

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inducts New Members
After years of being named finalists to enter the hall of fame, then getting outvoted, the Stooges were finally inducted this year.


Source : www.nytimes.com | 16-mars-2010 11:40

Theater Review | 'Kiss Bessemer Goodbye': Loving Band of Bigots, From Tencha Ávila
There?s something ugly going on in this likable if shaky one-act, Repertorio Español?s newest production.


Source : theater2.nytimes.com | 16-mars-2010 07:25

Charles Moore, Rights-Era Photographer, Dies at 79
Mr. Moore braved physical peril to capture searing images that many credit with helping to propel landmark civil rights legislation.


Source : www.nytimes.com | 16-mars-2010 06:20

Der Scutt, Modernist Architect, Dies at 75
Mr. Scutt was best known for whetting Donald Trump?s appetite for mirrored glass boxes, such as his design for Trump Tower.


Source : www.nytimes.com | 16-mars-2010 06:12

Do You Have a Case of Recovery Envy?
No addiction? No problem. Some of the rehab-obsessed are even quitting substances they never abused.
Source : www.details.com | 16-mars-2010 01:00

Google expects Android to 'flourish' in China: CFO

Google expects its Android mobile operating system to "flourish" in China, Google's chief financial officer said Monday amid a two-month standoff with Beijing over Web censorship and cyberattacks.

Asked during a Google "educational webcast" about the future of Android in China in light of the conflict over Google's search engine, Google CFO Patrick Pichette said "the Android platform is available to everybody.

"All the carriers, all the handset providers can actually use the Android platform," Pichette said. "It's an open source platform.

Source : www.france24.com | 16-mars-2010 00:26

Sheen domestic violence trial set for July 21

Actor Charlie Sheen pleaded not guilty Monday to charges of domestic violence and was ordered to stand trial July 21 during a brief court appearance in an Aspen, Colorado, court.

Sheen, 44, was arrested Christmas Day in the glitzy, celebrity-rich mountain community on charges he threatened his wife, Brooke Mueller, with a knife during an argument at the home Mueller had rented for the holidays. He was later released on bond.

Source : www.france24.com | 16-mars-2010 00:06

Djokovic dodges disaster to advance

Second-seeded Novak Djokovic saved three match points on Monday en route to a 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (7/3) victory over Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber in the third round of the BNP Paribas Open.

The world number two from Serbia, who won this ATP Masters 1000 title in 2008, was on the ropes when he trailed 4-5 in the third set and 0-40 on his own serve.

An overhead winner from Djokovic and a wayward backhand from Kohlschreiber took care of two of Kohlschreiber's match points.

Source : www.france24.com | 15-mars-2010 23:46

Abba joins eclectic Rock Hall of Fame batch

Veteran Swedish pop group Abba was to share the limelight Monday in New York with punk band the Stooges and reggae legend Jimmy Cliff, Genesis and The Hollies in joining the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

The eclectic group were the latest inductees to win the prestigious US honor, after being voted in by more than 500 rock experts.

The inclusion of Abba raised eyebrows of fans who question whether the light pop group, despite its mammoth and enduring popularity, qualifies as a rock force.

Source : www.france24.com | 15-mars-2010 23:46

Emory University Saves Rushdie?s Digital Data
As research libraries and archives are discovering, ?born-digital? materials are much more complicated and costly to preserve than anticipated.


Source : www.nytimes.com | 15-mars-2010 23:06

C-Span Puts Its Full Archives on the Web
Researchers, political satirists and partisan mudslingers, take note: C-Span has uploaded virtually every minute of its video archives to the Internet.


Source : www.nytimes.com | 15-mars-2010 23:04

Theater Review | 'Happy in the Poorhouse': At Theater 80, the Amoralists Look to Palookaville
?Happy in the Poorhouse? is a big, sloppy kiss of a family drama delivered with the warmth and gusto of an overly affectionate aunt.


Source : theater2.nytimes.com | 15-mars-2010 22:58

Music Review | Grand Finals Concert of the Metropolitan Opera?s National Council Auditions: A Chance to Listen to the Future at the Met
This year?s Grand Finals Concert of the Metropolitan Opera?s National Council Auditions on Sunday presented nine young singers competing for five prizes.


Source : www.nytimes.com | 15-mars-2010 22:54

Signature Theater?s Plans Shift, but Gehry Remains
The Signature Theater Company?s new home, designed by Frank Gehry, won?t be as grand as the one planned for the World Trade Center site, but it is more affordable.


Source : www.nytimes.com | 15-mars-2010 22:51

Music Review: At the Met, Dance, Chant and Song Span the Centuries
Early Music Exposed, a daylong festival at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Saturday, ostensibly celebrated the reopening of the André Mertens Galleries for Musical Instruments.


Source : www.nytimes.com | 15-mars-2010 22:48

Anthologies draw on grab bag of styles
Anthologies are like knuckleballs. You never know what's headed your way. Look at "Mome Vol. 17."...
Source : www.bostonherald.com | 15-mars-2010 22:44

Television Review | 'Justified': On FX, an Elmore Leonard Lawman in Kentucky
?Justified,? a new series that begins Tuesday night on FX, is based on a character created by the novelist Elmore Leonard.


Source : www.nytimes.com | 15-mars-2010 22:40

Theater Review | 'Good Ol? Girls': Southern Women Tell (Almost) All at the Steinberg Center
?Good Ol? Girls? ? starring five talented, attractive women with Southern accents ? puts down 99 percent of Southern men. So tell us again, what is it celebrating?


Source : theater2.nytimes.com | 15-mars-2010 22:40

Music Review | Alim Qasimov: At Asia Society, Mugham, the Classical Song of Azerbaijan
The words Alim Qasimov sang on Friday night at Asia Society were nearly five centuries old.


Source : www.nytimes.com | 15-mars-2010 22:39

Dance Review: Doug Varone?s Former Dancers, at the 92nd Street Y
Doug Varone organized a program of his former dancers at the 92nd Street Y on Friday.


Source : www.nytimes.com | 15-mars-2010 22:39

Music Review | 'Gershwin ... Here to Stay': Gershwin by K T Sullivan at the Oak Room
?Gershwin ... Here to Stay? is a wonderfully buoyant tribute the piano man Mark Nadler is performing with K T Sullivan at the Oak Room of the Algonquin Hotel.


Source : www.nytimes.com | 15-mars-2010 22:33