POPGAZETA

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis on Sunday will elevate to sainthood the first female saint from his native Argentina, an event that will be attended at the Vatican by his former strong critic, Argentine President Javier Milei. Milei, a maverick right-wing libertarian, in the past called Francis an “imbecile,” a “son of a bitch preaching communism” and the devil’s man on Earth — but has softened his tone since taking office in December. The pope, for his part, has said he did not pay too much attention to the insults, telling Mexican broadcaster N+ that what matters is what politicians do in office, rather than on the campaign trail. Francis is set to lead a canonization Mass for Maria Antonia de Paz y Figueroa, better known as “Mama Antula,” an 18th century woman who renounced her family’s riches to focus on charity and Jesuit spiritual exercises. The ceremony comes as Argentina is facing its worst economic crisis in decades, with inflation at more than 200%. Francis has said he hopes to be able make his first trip back to his homeland since being pope in 2013 in the second half of this year. The Argentine leader, who has said he may …

TOKYO — Will she make it in time? Taylor Swift’s last song was still ringing in the ears of thousands of fans at the Tokyo Dome on Saturday night when the singer rushed to a private jet at Haneda airport, presumably embarking on an intensely scrutinized journey to see her boyfriend, NFL star Travis Kelce, play in the Super Bowl in Las Vegas. “We’re all going to go on a great adventure,” Swift earlier told the crowd. She was speaking of the music, but it might also describe her prospective race against time, which was to cross nine time zones and the international date line. With a final bow at the end of her sold-out show, clad in in a blue sequined outfit, the crowd screaming, strobe lights pulsing, confetti falling, Swift disappeared beneath the stage — and her journey to the other side of the world began. Her expected trip to see Kelce’s Kansas City Chiefs play the San Francisco 49ers in Las Vegas on Sunday, U.S. time, has fired imaginations and speculation for weeks. “I hope she can return in time. It’s so romantic,” said office worker Hitomi Takahashi, 29, who bought matching Taylor Swift sweatshirts with her friend …

london — In British history, the secrecy of the monarch’s health has always reigned supreme. Buckingham Palace’s disclosure that King Charles III has been diagnosed with cancer shattered that longstanding tradition.  On the heels of the shock and well-wishing that followed the official statement Monday came the surprise that the palace had announced anything at all. Indeed, the unprecedented missive was sparse on details: Charles, 75, had begun treatment for a cancer it did not name after being diagnosed during a recent corrective procedure for an enlarged prostate. The king is stepping back from public duties but carrying on state business during his treatment, which he’ll receive as an outpatient, the palace said.  “The King has cancer,” The Times of London declared in a terse banner headline Tuesday. It was unlike any other in British history.  Never complain, never explain, as Charles’ late mother, Queen Elizabeth II, was known to say. Charles has withheld details of his illness and treatment, and in that way is carrying on her approach. But in beaming a sliver of light from inside the palace walls and his own life, the king has broken with his mother and royal tradition. Royals’ health a mystery The world …

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — A Catholic laywoman who lived in 18th-century Argentina and joined the Jesuits in their evangelical mission throughout the South American country will become the first female saint from the home country of Pope Francis on Sunday. María Antonia de Paz y Figueroa, more commonly known by her Quechua name of “Mama Antula,” was born in 1730 into a wealthy family in Santiago del Estero, a province north of Buenos Aires. At the age of 15, she left the comfortable life of her home and the privileges of her family to join the Jesuits — at a time when women’s options were limited to marriage or joining a convent.  “She was a rebel, just like Jesus,” Cintia Suárez, co-author of the biography Mama Antula, the first female saint of Argentina, told The Associated Press. “She confronted her father saying, ‘I’m not going to get married or become a nun.’ She just didn’t want to follow orders.” Mama Antula collaborated in the performance of spiritual exercises based on the writings of St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Company of Jesus in 1534, according to her biographer. When the Spanish crown expelled the Jesuits from America in 1767, …

Washington — Lionel Messi, arguably the world’s most popular soccer player, is the object of uncharacteristic hostility in Hong Kong, where he was roundly booed by frustrated fans after sitting out an exhibition match this week. China’s state-controlled media was quick to suggest a CIA hand in the debacle. Messi later explained he had a hamstring strain that made him stay on the bench throughout the game on Sunday, but many fans don’t buy his excuse because Messi played about 30 minutes in Japan three days after his Hong Kong absence. The near-capacity crowd of 38,323 in Hong Kong had paid upwards of 1,000 Hong Kong dollars ($125) to see their hero, and in many cases five times that amount. Some of them also caught sight of Messi walking away with his hands in his pockets when John Lee, Hong Kong’s chief executive, greeted Messi’s fellow Inter Miami players one by one and shook hands with them. Regina Ip Lau Suk Yee, convenor of the Hong Kong Executive Council and a Legislative Council member, lashed out at the soccer hero: “Messi should never be allowed to return to Hong Kong. His lies and hypocrisy are disgusting.” She further declared that “Hong …

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TOKYO — Seiji Ozawa, the Japanese conductor who amazed audiences with the lithe physicality of his performances during three decades at the helm of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, has died, his management office said Friday. He was 88. The internationally acclaimed maestro, with his trademark mop of salt-and-pepper hair, led the BSO from 1973 to 2002, longer than any other conductor in the orchestra’s history. From 2002 to 2010, he was the music director of the Vienna State Opera. He died of heart failure Tuesday at his home in Tokyo, according to his office, Veroza Japan. He remained active in his later years, particularly in his native land. He was the artistic director and founder of the Seiji Ozawa Matsumoto Festival, a music and opera festival in Japan. He and the Saito Kinen Orchestra, which he co-founded in 1984, won the Grammy for best opera recording in 2016 for Ravel’s “L’Enfant et Les Sortileges” (“The Child and the Spells”). In 2022, he conducted his Seiji Ozawa Matsumoto Festival for the first time in three years to mark its 30th anniversary. That turned out to be his last public performance. Ozawa exerted enormous influence over the BSO during his tenure. He appointed …

Participants of the Extreme Chainsaw Carving Show have just a few hours to turn a cedar block of wood into a beautiful work of art. VOA’s Natasha Mozgovaya reports from Arlington, Washington, in the Pacific Northwest. …

LOS ANGELES — Las Vegas will be flooded with so many pre- Super Bowl events that Shaquille O’Neal lowered the prices to his popular carnival-themed “Shaq’s Fun House.” Instead of raising the rate, O’Neal decided to offer potential attendees more bang for their buck to the NBA legend’s sixth annual event planned for Friday in Sin City. He made the decision to lower the rates after purchasing an expensive suite at the Formula One that cost nearly five times more than normal to watch the racing event in Las Vegas last year. “We’re not going to do that to the people,” said O’Neal, who said the going rate for Fun House starts at $99 but will increase as the event nears. He’ll bring back Lil Wayne, Diplo and himself under his name DJ Diesel to perform during his over-the-top festival — which features several attractions including a Ferris wheel, circus performers and premium bar. “We could’ve done $200, $250 or $300,” said O’Neal whose event will take place XS Nightclub at the Wynn — a hotel that will host Rob Gronkowski ‘s Gronk Beach in Encore on Saturday afternoon and Sports Illustrated’s The Party in XS Nightclub later that night. “But …

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Annette Bening, a two-time Golden Globe winner who recently received her fifth Oscar nomination, was feted Tuesday with a raucous parade full of colorful costumes and drag performers as part of festivities honoring her as Harvard University’s Hasty Pudding Theatricals 2024 Woman of the Year. A few hours later, Benning endured a celebrity roast before attending a performance of the Hasty Pudding Theatricals’ 175th production, “Heist Heist Baby.” She joined a group of synchronized swimmers on stage doing swim strokes to the song “Pump Up the Jams,” a reference to her role in the swimming movie “Nyad.” Then, she cut the hair of a volunteer in an effort to give him her signature look. And then she donned a seagull costume and acted out the role of the sea bird, a reference her role in the movie version of Anton Chekhov’s “The Seagull,” squawking and waiving her arms. “I did it all myself with no one’s help,” Benning joked, after accepting the traditional pudding pot and trying to start a speech by thanking her kindergarten teacher. Her husband, Warren Beatty, won the man of the year award in 1975. The Pudding is the oldest theatrical organization in the …

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LOS ANGELES — Taylor Swift won album of the year at the Grammy Awards for “Midnights,” breaking the record for most wins in the category with four.  She began her speech by thanking her producer and friend Jack Antonoff and added, “I would love to tell you this is the happiest moment of my life,” she told the crowd, but said she feels this happy when she creates music and plays shows. Earlier in the night, Taylor Swift used her 13th Grammy win on Sunday to announce her new album, “Tortured Poets Department,” will arrive April 19. “I know that the way that the Recording Academy voted is a direct reflection of the passion of the fans,” she said while accepting the best pop vocal album award. “So, I want to say thank you to the fans by telling you a secret that I’ve been keeping from you for the last two years which is that my brand-new album comes out April 19. It’s called ‘The Tortured Poets Department.’ I’m gonna go and post the cover right now backstage.” One of the night’s biggest awards, record of the year, went to Miley Cyrus for “Flowers,” her second-ever Grammy and second of …

Karachi, Pakistan — There’s a scrum of people trying to get photos with the married couple at the Radiance banquet hall, and you can barely hear someone talk above the din of 400 guests tucking into biryani and chicken tikka, music and the drone whirring around the room. The bejeweled bride and her natty groom are beaming. Outside, the street is jammed with cars heading to wedding parties in neighboring banquet halls, L’Amour, Candles and Hill Top. Hill Top, a multiplex, has three weddings going on at once. It’s winter in Pakistan, and that means weddings. Lots of weddings. During the cooler weather between November and February, millions of people attend weddings every week. Pakistani diaspora come home from around the world for the season, packing airport arrival halls and five-star hotels. People call it Decemberistan. “December is when everybody has an excuse to put a pause on worrying, whatever income level you are,” said Karachi-based communications consultant Khizra Munir. “Everyone’s on the same page that we’re going to live in the moment. It’s a great time to have a reunion, a great excuse to dress up.” Weddings are one of the few opportunities for people in the conservative Muslim country …

A new documentary called “Vishniac” tells the story of 20th century Jewish photographer Roman Vishniac, who was born in Russia, escaped the Holocaust, and eventually settled in America. His iconic photographs later helped inform the movie “Schindler’s List.” Anna Nelson has this report, narrated by Anna Rice. VOA footage by: Elena Matusovsky, Natalia Latukhina. …

New York — Apple has had its first box office flop. “Argylle,” the $200-million star-studded spy thriller from Apple Studios, debuted with $18 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday. The film, directed by Matthew Vaughn, managed to lead the weekend box office, but still found little interest from moviegoers. Although Apple has been in the original film business since 2019 and won the Oscar for best picture with 2021’s “CODA,” the company has only recently produced its own lineup of big-budget releases. The first two — Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon” and Ridley Scott’s “Napoleon” — could be called successful. “Killers of the Flower Moon,” though not profitable with $156 million in global sales, was one of the most celebrated films of 2023 and is nominated for 10 Academy Awards. “Napoleon,” released in November, has raked in $219 million worldwide — also not enough to turn a profit. But both films raised Apple’s reputation as a home to top directors and prestige filmmaking. The same can’t be said for “Argylle,” a twisty thriller starring Bryce Dallas Howard, Sam Rockwell and Henry Cavill. The movie was badly dinged by critics, who gave it a Rotten Tomatoes score …

New York — A collection of sneakers that superstar Michael Jordan wore as he and the Chicago Bulls won six NBA championships has fetched $8 million at auction, setting a record for game-worn sneakers, Sotheby’s said. The six Air Jordan shoes — one apiece from the last games of the 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997 and 1998 championship series — sold Friday. Sotheby’s dubbed it the “Dynasty Collection.” “Serving as both a reminder of Michael Jordan’s lasting impact on the world and a tangible expression of his recognized legendary status, its significance is further validated by this monumental result,” Brahm Wachter of Sotheby’s said in a statement. Wachter oversees modern collectables for the auction house. Sotheby’s didn’t identify the buyer and described the seller only as “a private American collector” who obtained them from a longtime Bulls executive. Jordan first gave a sneaker to the executive after the championship-winning game in 1991 and continued the tradition afterward, according to Sotheby’s. The auction lot included photos of Jordan wearing a single shoe as he celebrated the 1992, 1993, 1996 and 1998 wins. A five-time league MVP and two-time Olympic gold medalist, Jordan was so singular a   player that then-NBA Commissioner David …

LOS ANGELES — Luminaries of the music business gather to hand out the annual Grammy awards on Sunday at a red-carpet ceremony that may culminate with another record for Taylor Swift. The 34-year-old pop superstar in the middle of the world’s highest-grossing tour is competing for an unprecedented fourth album of the year trophy with “Midnights.” No other artist in the 66-year Grammys history has claimed the coveted honor four times. Music legends Frank Sinatra, Paul Simon and Stevie Wonder won three each. The awards will be broadcast live on CBS and streamed on Paramount+ PARA.O starting at 5 p.m. PT (0100 GMT). Comedian Trevor Noah returns for a fourth stint to host the ceremony at Crypto.com Arena in downtown Los Angeles. Heavy rain is forecast to hit southern California on Sunday. Grammy organizers said the pre-ceremony red carpet would be held under tents to protect nominees from the weather. Swift is not a lock for the album award. Industry pundits said it could go to “SOS” from R&B artist SZA, who would be the first Black woman since Lauryn Hill 25 years ago to win the category as a lead artist. SZA, singer of dark ballad “Kill Bill,” leads all …

LOS ANGELES — When the biggest names in music gather Sunday for the industry’s top honors at the Grammy Awards, they will hand out a new trophy for best African music performance. The prize reflects the growing popularity of Afrobeats, and other music from the continent, which is gaining a global audience with help from social media platforms such as short-form video app TikTok. Afrobeats originated in West Africa, primarily Ghana and Nigeria, though the term is often used as a catch-all for various music styles coming from Africa. It features percussion rhythms mixed with various genres from rap to jazz, R&B and others. Modern Afrobeats “has a feel-good groove to it,” said Heran Mamo, R&B and hip-hop reporter at Billboard magazine, which created a U.S. Afrobeats chart in 2022. “It’s bound to reach a wider audience because it already contains a little bit of everything for everyone.” On Spotify, Afrobeats music was streamed 13.5 billion times in 2022, up from 2 billion in 2017. In another milestone, Nigerian singer Burna Boy became the first African artist to sell out a U.S. stadium when he played New York’s Citi Field last summer. Musicians in the running for the new Grammy on …

Hong Kong  — Frustrated Hong Kong residents say they have been unable to watch the online TV series Expats, starring Hollywood star Nicole Kidman, which was launched globally on Amazon Prime Video late last week and focuses on the former British colony. The six-part show, directed by Chinese-born American filmmaker Lulu Wang, is based on a novel by Korean American author Janice Y. K. Lee. The plot revolves around the lives of three women in Hong Kong in 2014, and the scenes include numerous Hong Kong elements. In addition to settings in familiar tourist sites such as Victoria Harbor, it reproduces scenes of the 2014 Hong Kong protests, also known as the Umbrella Movement, when protesters took to the streets holding umbrellas, demanding the right to choose the city’s chief executive. It is still unclear whether the decision to block the program in Hong Kong was a business decision or whether it was due to interference from authorities there. Analysts suspect that local Amazon Prime users are unable to watch the program because of those reproduced scenes of the 2014 protests. Some also worry it may be another sign of Beijing’s broader crackdown on the arts. A Hong Kong government spokesperson …

MADRID — A poster in the southern Spanish city of Seville that depicts a young, handsome Jesus wearing only a loincloth has unleashed a storm on social media, with some calling it an affront to the figure of Christ and others posting lewd remarks and memes poking fun at the image. The poster by internationally recognized Seville artist Salustiano García Cruz shows a fresh-faced Jesus without a crown of thorns, no suffering face and minuscule wounds on the hands and ribcage. It was commissioned and approved by the General Council of Brotherhoods, which organizes the renowned and immensely popular Holy Week processions ahead of Easter in Seville. As soon as it was unveiled last week criticism of it went viral on social media and a debate erupted over how a resurrected Christ should be depicted. Many called it a disgrace, inappropriate, too pretty, modernist and out of line with Seville’s Easter tradition. Spain is predominantly Catholic and church traditions such as marriage, baptisms and religious parades are immensely popular both among believers and nonbelievers. A campaign on Change.org to have the poster of Jesus withdrawn was signed by some 14,000 people from around the country. The artist, García, defended the work …

NEW YORK — Carl Weathers, a former NFL linebacker who became a Hollywood action movie and comedy star, playing nemesis-turned-ally Apollo Creed in the “Rocky” movies, facing off against Arnold Schwarzenegger in “Predator” and teaching golf in “Happy Gilmore,” has died. He was 76. Matt Luber, his manager, said Weathers died Thursday. His family issued a statement saying he died “peacefully in his sleep.” Weathers was comfortable flexing his muscles on the big screen in “Action Jackson” as well as joking around on the small screen in such shows as “Arrested Development.” He was perhaps most closely associated with Creed, who made his first appearance as the cocky, undisputed heavyweight world champion in 1976’s “Rocky,” starring Sylvester Stallone. “It puts you on the map and makes your career, so to speak. But that’s a one-off, so you’ve got to follow it up with something. Fortunately, those movies kept coming, and Apollo Creed became more and more in people’s consciousness and welcome in their lives, and it was just the right guy at the right time,” he told The Daily Beast in 2017. Most recently, Weathers appeared in all three seasons of the Disney+ hit “The Mandalorian,” for which he earned an …

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Bangkok — A dissident Russian-Belarusian rock band held in Thailand on immigration charges have left the kingdom to fly to Israel, according to a post Thursday on the group’s official Facebook page. Bi-2 have criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin and the war in Ukraine, and their arrest sparked fears they would be deported to Russia where they would face persecution. Thailand’s National Security Council, chaired by Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, took charge of the case on Wednesday, and early Thursday the band’s Facebook page confirmed they had left the country. “All musicians of the Bi-2 group have safely left Thailand and are heading to Tel Aviv,” read the post. Several members of the band have dual nationalities, including Israeli and Australian. On Wednesday, the band said singer Egor Bortnik, known by his stage name Lyova, had already left Thailand to fly to Israel. The band were held last week after they played a gig on Phuket, a southern island popular with Russian holidaymakers. Thai officials said they were arrested for performing without the correct work permits and transferred to an immigration detention center in Bangkok. The organizers of the band’s Thailand concerts — which also included a show in the raucous …

TEHRAN, Iran — Lighting fires that brightened the night sky, followers of Iran’s minority Zoroastrian religion marked the Sadeh festival in several cities Tuesday, celebrating the end of the coldest winter days. Every year on January 30, Zoroastrians gather after sunset to celebrate the 50 days and 50 nights remaining until spring. Sadah, which means “the 100,” is an ancient feast from when the religion was the dominant faith in the powerful Persian empire, which collapsed after the Arab invasion in the 7th century. On the southwestern outskirts of Tehran, several Zoroastrian priests and priestesses, dressed in white from head-to-toe to symbolize purity, led young followers to light a giant bonfire in a joyful ceremony. Around the fire, people listened to bands and theological lectures as they milled about while eating and celebrating. In a rare move, the Islamic Republic’s air force band played the national anthem, among other tunes, to the excitement of the attendees. Iran’s 85 million population is mostly Shiite Muslim. The country has been ruled by hardline clerics who preach a strict version of Islam since the 1979 Islamic revolution. They discourage people from following pre-Islamic feasts and traditions. Zoroastrianism is a monotheistic religion that predates Christianity …