Month: May 2017

Iran’s potential as a holiday destination is vast, with its stunning landscapes and numerous World Heritage sites, but foreign tourists have largely avoided the country ever since the Islamic Revolution in 1979.

The reasons are numerous. The visa process can be lengthy and complex. Some female visitors object to customary restrictions on dress. Alcohol consumption is heavily restricted. And, fears of detention and political upheaval enter the minds of many foreigners considering holidays in the Islamic republic.

Under President Hassan Rohani, a relative moderate who won a second term in office with a convincing first-round victory in Iran’s May 19 presidential election, the country has welcomed foreigners as part of an effort to improve its international image and boost an economy battered by low oil prices and years of crippling international sanctions imposed over Iran’s nuclear program.

Since the signing of a nuclear deal with world powers in 2015 that was the crowning achievement of Rohani’s first term, tour companies have launched holiday packages and major European airlines have resumed regular flights to Iran.

The number of foreign tourists has increased accordingly, and the cash-strapped government is planning to build on its tourism revival by easing visa restrictions and spending heavily to spruce up tourist accommodations and shabby transportation networks.

‘Tsunami of tourists’

In 2015, Masoud Soltanifar, the head of Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization, said he was expecting a “tsunami of tourists” once sanctions were lifted following the deal under which Iran’s nuclear program would be curbed in return for the lifting of sanctions.

The World Bank said the number of visitors to Iran increased from 2.2 million in 2009 to 5.2 million in 2015, and Iranian officials expect that trend to continue.

The influx of tourists has brought the country billions of dollars in revenue and created badly needed jobs. In 2015, Iran earned $7.5 billion in tourism revenue; the government hopes to attract 20 million foreign tourists by 2025 and gross $30 billion.

Business Insider and Bloomberg have named Iran among the top destinations to visit in 2017 because of security and the country’s ancient architecture, famous bazaars, and natural beauty.

To put Iran on the map for tourism in the region, authorities have announced sweeping plans that include easing visa restrictions.

Issuing visas on arrival at the airport for nationals of 190 countries as well as issuing electronic visas are among the initiatives being considered by Iranian officials. Citizens from the United States, Canada and Britain would still only be allowed to travel on escorted tours.

The government has also announced plans to create sufficient accommodation and transportation for the growing number of tourists. There is a plan to increase the number of higher-end hotels from 130 to more than 1,000 in 10 years.

Iran also plans to add 400 new passenger planes to its domestic fleet to compensate for shortages due to international sanctions over the past three decades.

The plan is to make Iran a hot spot that would rival regional destinations. Like Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, Iran is blessed with natural wonders.

The Islamic Republic has a sun-baked coast with hundreds of kilometers of beaches. Iran is also a haven for culture buffs, with 19 World Heritage sites, including the ancient desert city of Bam and the ruins of Persepolis.

Tourist hub

Key to the government’s plans to boost tourist numbers is Kish Island, one of a handful of free-trade zones in Iran. The southern island in the Persian Gulf is known for its newly built, multistory malls; sparkling jewelry stores; and swanky, five-star hotels hugging the coast.

The island is a tourist hot spot that attracts an estimated 1 million people every year, mostly Iranians. But Tehran is stepping up its efforts to make the island, located 16 kilometers from the mainland, a destination for foreign visitors as well.

Iran’s first cruise ship since 1979 made its maiden voyage on April 13, docking at another Iranian Gulf resort island, Qeshm, with more than 200 passengers on board.

The seven-floor, Swedish-built cruise liner, named Sunny, is equipped with two cinemas, restaurants, a swimming pool and a conference hall. With the capacity to carry up to 1,600 passengers and 200 vehicles between the two islands, the ship is intended to help launch a “boom [in] marine tourism,” according to Iran’s state IRNA news agency.

Luxurious spot

Kish Island is known as an oasis of luxury and relative freedom in the otherwise conservative Islamic republic.

Women can be seen dipping their bare legs in the warm sea, alcohol is easier to come by, and even prostitutes can be seen on the promenades. It is a world away from the mainland, where a strict ban on alcohol and prostitution is enforced and women must be covered.

Visitors to Kish are attracted by the duty-free shops, resort hotels, water sports and an opportunity to escape the strict social norms on the mainland. A small number of foreigners are also going to Kish, where they do not need a visa and where they can mingle freely in foreigners-only parts of the island.

Authorities occasionally crack down on cinemas playing Western films, shops displaying mannequins that are deemed too exposed, and restaurants selling alcohol, but that is the exception.

Mina, a 21-year-old Iranian student who has visited Kish Island twice, says Iranians go there to escape the social restrictions on the mainland. But she added, “I saw more foreigners coming to Kish, and as long the infrastructure improves, more will come.”
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Southern rock legend Gregg Allman has died in Savannah, Georgia, at age 69, according to his family.

Allman, whose blues guitar and vocals became representative of an entire genre of country-and-blues-tinged rock music, had been in poor health. He announced in March 2017 that he was canceling all performances for the rest of the year.

The family said in a statement that Allman “passed away peacefully” in his home near the southeastern U.S. coast Saturday.

The Nashville-born musician, known for his long, blond hair, originally began playing music with his brother, Duane, when the two were teenagers. Legend has it that the two boys, close in age, initially shared a guitar bought at Sears.

After years of playing together in various groups, the self-titled Allman Brothers Band had just begun to achieve mainstream success in 1971 when Duane was killed in a motorcycle accident at age 24.

Gregg Allman carried on with the Allman Brothers Band for decades afterward, releasing such famous Southern rock tunes as “Whipping Post,” “Ramblin’ Man” and “Midnight Rider,” and influencing untold numbers of Southern songwriters who followed.

In 1995, the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It won a Grammy for the instrumental “Jessica” the following year.

Allman abused drugs and alcohol until the mid-1990s. While he spent the final two decades of his life sober, his health was affected by the excess of his earlier years. He underwent a liver transplant in 2010.

Music was essential

Throughout his recovery and later health problems, Allman maintained that playing music was essential to his survival. The year after his liver transplant, he released a solo album called “Low Country Blues.”

During his  five-decade career Allman worked with many of the greats of American blues and rock ‘n’ roll, including Wilson Pickett, Neil Young, Clarence Carter, Eric Clapton and T-Bone Burnett. The band established a tradition of playing a multinight residency at New York City’s Beacon Theater once a year for most of two decades. Their final residency at the Beacon ended in October 2014.

He was married several times, including one famous but brief pairing with pop superstar Cher. He had five children.

Allman was the most famous face of a band that saw more than its share of tragedy.

In addition to the death of brother Duane, the Allman Brothers Band lost its bassist, Berry Oakley, to a motorcycle accident in 1972. In January of this year, another founding member of the band, Butch Trucks, committed suicide. Like Allman, he was 69.
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Two new documentaries have shed light on the plight of Syria’s refugees and how they are regarded by the world around them.

Apo Bazidi’s “Resistance is Life” chronicles the siege of Kobane, a primarily Kurdish town in northern Syria that Islamic State militants seized in 2014, forcing many of its inhabitants to flee. During the monthslong siege, thousands escaped to Turkey, including a family of five that moved into a refugee camp in Suruc.

Eight-year-old Evlin is the eldest of the children. Smart and engaging, she is the main character of this documentary. Using a small camera, Evlin trains her eye on scenes around the refugee camp.

“I take pictures of the pain around me,” she says.

Her high intellect and her voraciousness for learning seem wasted in a barren refugee camp. Yet Evlin seems to derive wisdom from her personal experiences and the experiences of others around her.

She appreciates the welcome the people of Suruc have extended to the refugees, but she confesses that sometimes her expressed appreciation is more for the sake of the giver.

In her young, perceptive mind, she has weighed the few options she and her family have.

“I have not given up on my homeland,” she says. With adult composure, she describes how many opt for making a treacherous trek to Europe. “They get on a boat. They ask each other who knows how to operate it. One says, ‘Me.’ Then people go in the water. Little children drown, and they die,” she says.

Key role of women

In April 2015, Kurdish fighters were able to liberate the villages of the Kobane canton. Enwer Muslim, prime minister of the canton, says women led a major part of the resistance.

“Young women fought to prevent even a single braid falling into the hands of ISIS,” he says, using an Islamic State acronym. “It may hurt some male fighters to hear this, but believe me, 70 percent to 80 percent of our victory was led by women.”

But the city lies in ruins.

Many have returned to their destroyed homes, but tens of thousands, including Evlin and her family, remain in a refugee camp.

The threat of the extremists is still palpable in the region, and life is far from returning to normal. The documentary is a reminder that these people need help from the international community.

Tonislav Hristov’s “The Good Postman” focuses on a dying Bulgarian village as its elderly inhabitants face refugees crossing into their lands from Turkey.

As the electoral campaign of three mayoral candidates heats up, the debate over Syrian refugees, who cross illegally into their village daily, intensifies.

The current mayor is a young woman who brings little hope for relief to the poverty-ridden villagers.

An unemployed self-styled revolutionary is a populist candidate, who longs for the older communist times and mixes utopian socialism with bigotry and xenophobia. During a lackluster campaign gathering, he promises “internet for all” to the sparse octogenarian electorate that has huddled around, waiting for a ration of sausages and beer, and in the same breath he declares his objection to Syrian refugees settling in his village.

Ivan, a postman and the liberal candidate in the race, offers a different proposal: Let the refugees settle in the village and revitalize it.

Mayor re-elected

In the end, neither Ivan nor the revolutionary wins. The existing mayor, who has not campaigned, wins again amid the poverty and malaise of her dying constituents.

Kaarle Aho, the documentary producer, says the Bulgarian village is reflective of the Western world.

“It’s sort of like a microcosm. You have these people everywhere in Europe and also here. You don’t have to go to a small Bulgarian village in order to find these characters. The same kind of politicians you have in Finland and Sweden, everywhere in Europe,” he says, “but also probably the United States. … There is like a small-time populist politician there who’s just promising anything and who’s trying to raise fears among people, to make people be afraid of everything new. And then, funnily enough, the liberal guy is the postman of the village.”

As for the populist candidate who ran against the settlement of Syrian refugees in the village, Aho says “he has a son living in Ukraine, which means that his son is an immigrant. Yet he doesn’t want to have immigrants in his own country,” underscoring his hypocrisy.

“The Good Postman” is as heartbreaking as it is funny, a searing satire of today’s world.
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Take a seat, “Thor.”

Scattered plans among Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas to host women-only screenings of the upcoming “Wonder Woman” movie have produced both support and some grumbling about gender discrimination.

Various locations have taken to social media in response, including the operators of the Brooklyn theater promising on Twitter to funnel proceeds from women-only screenings in early June to Planned Parenthood. And by women only, they mean staff, too.

Some of the screenings were already selling out despite social media haters, many of whom are men, and several have been added.

The offer of special screenings began recently in Austin, Texas, where Alamo has held specialty screenings in the past for military veterans and others. As for “Wonder Woman,” the Alamo in Brooklyn posted a statement online saying what better way to celebrate the most iconic superheroine than with “an all-female screening?”

“Apologies, gentlemen, but we’re embracing our girl power and saying `No Guys Allowed’ for several special shows at the Alamo Downtown Brooklyn. And when we say `Women (and people who identify as women)only,’ we mean it. So lasso your geeky girlfriends together and grab your tickets to this celebration of one of the most enduring and inspiring characters ever created.”

The movie opens June 2 based on the DC Comics character. It was directed by Patty Jenkins and stars Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman/Diana Prince.
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Two documentaries shed light on the hardships Syrian refugees and how they’re regarded by the world. One tells the story of a town in northern Syria seized by Islamic State militants in 2014, turning its inhabitants into refugees. Another focuses on a Bulgarian village’s debate over what to do with the refugees crossing into their lands from Turkey. VOA’s Penelope Poulou has more.
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In a new book, “Amina’s Voice,” a Pakistani Muslim pre-teen girl deals with middle school and Islamophobia. VOA’s Yahya Albarznji spoke with young American students, teachers and the award-winning author about this book and the hope that it will help people understand Islam.
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Fernando Alonso will be hoping to return to his McLaren Formula One day job next week with an Indianapolis 500 victory and another jewel in motor racing’s Triple Crown.

For over a century, the Indy 500 has been a magnet to motor racing giants and thrill-seekers eager to test their skill and bravery on the sprawling 2.5-mile oval known as the Brickyard.

Alonso, a two-time Formula One world champion, is the latest driver to accept the challenge in a one-off bid to match the late Briton Graham Hill — the only man to claim the Triple Crown of motor sport with victories at the Monaco Grand Prix, Indy 500 and 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Alonso, 35, has no experience at Le Mans either, but he’s indicated that that challenge will have to wait a while.

 

When the Spaniard was granted leave by McLaren to skip the Monaco Grand Prix to chase Indy 500 glory on Sunday, it seemed a farfetched dream for a driver who had never sat in an IndyCar, never mind trying out oval racing on one of the most notorious and dangerous tarmacs in all of motorsports.

But he has proven to be a quick learner and has already showcased his immense skill by coming to grips with the nuances of oval racing to qualify in fifth place.

“I feel ready,” Alonso said. “Lacking experience, for sure, because [it is] my first time with everything that is going to happen, from rolling starts and all these things, but at the same time I have worked very, very hard over the last month, so I cannot be better prepared than I am.

“Maybe it is not enough, but I could not do anything more than this.”

High-octane action

No amount of time in the cockpit of his McLaren Andretti Autosport Honda could prepare Alonso for what awaits him Sunday. Drivers say there is nothing that compares to the sight of 300,000-plus spectators filling the sprawling grandstands for a day of high-octane action.

Held on the Memorial Day holiday weekend in the heart of the U.S. Midwest, where the winner chugs a quart of milk rather than expensive French champagne, the Indy 500 is a unique American event.

This year 33 drivers, including four rookies, from 10 countries and both sexes will take the green flag.

Scott Dixon, the 2008 winner, grabbed pole position last weekend on a Sunday full of drama that began with his taking P1 and ended with a gun pointed to his head during a robbery while he was buying fast food at a drive-through restaurant.

Lining up alongside the popular New Zealander in the front row will be Indianapolis native and two-time pole sitter Ed Carpenter and last year’s winner, Alexander Rossi.

‘We come here to win’

“This is the biggest event on the calendar each year, and it’s the one we set out to win first,” said Dixon. “We finished second here a couple of times, and it’s almost the worst place to finish when you come so close.

“We come here to win, and that’s the only goal. If we don’t achieve that, we’re disappointed.”

Row Two will see Japan’s Takuma Sato and American J.R. Hildebrand flanking Alonso.

Brazil’s Helio Castroneves, a four-time pole sitter and three-time champion, signaled his readiness to fight for an elusive fourth win after clocking the top speed in final practice on Friday.

In more than a century of racing at the famed speedway only three men — A.J. Foyt, Al Unser Sr. and Rick Mears — have won the 500 four times, and Castroneves is aiming to become the first non-American to join that club.

The Brazilian is part of the powerhouse Team Penske stable that includes  two-time winner Juan Pablo Montoya of Colombia, reigning IndyCar Series champion Simon Pagenaud of France, Australian Will Power and American Josef Newgarden, all trying to give team owner Roger Penske a 17th trip to Victory Lane.
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U.S. pop singer Ariana Grande says she will return to Manchester, England, to play a benefit show to raise money for the 22 victims and families of this week’s terrorist attack.

Grande had just finished her show Monday night when a suicide bomber blew himself up in the crowded lobby of the Manchester Arena. She was unharmed, although deeply shaken by the attack, and canceled her concert dates for the next two weeks.

No date has yet been set for the benefit concert, which Grande announced in a letter posted on Twitter Friday:

“Our response [to the bombing] must be to come closer together, to help each other, to love more, to sing louder, and to live more kindly and generously than we did before. I’ll be returning to the incredibly brave city of Manchester to spend some time with my fans and to have a benefit concert in honor of and to raise money for the victims and their families.”

She said she would share details of the concert as soon as they are confirmed.

Grande is expected to resume the European portion of her world tour next month, with shows in France, Portugal, Spain and Italy.

Manchester native Salman Abedi, 22, killed himself in the Manchester attack, detonating a bomb filled with nuts and bolts that he carried in a backpack. In addition to the 22 dead, at least 116 children and adults were wounded.

Many of the victims were young girls, who make up a large part of Grande’s fan base. Others were parents who had gone to arena to meet their children after the concert. The youngest victim was 8 years old.

British authorities detained eight people in connection with the attack, and Abedi’s father and a brother, who live in Tripoli, Libya, were taken into custody there. Details on how they may be tied to the bombing have not been released.
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This is the Top Five Countdown! We’re sizing up the five most popular songs in the Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart, for the week ending May 27, 2017.

On the one hand, we don’t get any new songs this week…but on the other, the championship changes hands. So: is the glass half full or half empty? You be the judge.

Number 5: Kendrick Lamar “Humble ”

Let’s open in fifth place, where Kendrick Lamar “sits down” a slot with “Humble.”

 

Number 4: Ed Sheeran “Shape of You”

Ed Sheeran has a bounce-back week, as “Shape Of You” rebounds a slot to number four. 

British singer James Blunt – famed for his global hit “You’re Beautiful” – says he taught Ed to ski in exchange for help writing songs on his latest album, The Afterlove. Ed receives songwriting credits on two tracks. Blunt says Ed told him to write the sort of open and direct lyrics fans loved on his first album.

Number 3: DJ Khaled Featuring Justin Bieber, Quavo, Chance The Rapper & Lil Wayne ‘ I’m The One”

DJ Khaled falls from first to third place with “I’m The One” featuring Justin Bieber, Quavo, Chance The Rapper and Lil Wayne.

Page Six reports that Khaled has his sights set on running Epic Records. Longtime Epic boss LA Reid was sacked two weeks ago, following claims of sexual harassment. The web site quotes an unnamed industry insider as saying that the DJ and producer has been petitioning for the job…no replacement has been named.

Number 2: Bruno Mars “That’s What I Like”

Bruno Mars is nothing if not consistent. Two weeks ago he topped the chart with “That’s What I Like”; one week ago he fell to second place – and that’s where we find him today.

Bruno performed at the Billboard Music Awards on May 21, with a little help from technology. He sang “Versace On The Floor,” streaming live from Amsterdam on his 24 K Magic World Tour.

 

Number 1: Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee Featuring Justin Bieber “Despacito”

We crown a special new Hot 100 champ this week, and to find its equal, you have to go back in time 21 years. 

Luis Fonsi, Daddy Yankee and Justin Bieber reach the summit, as “Despacito” climbs two slots. It’s the first Spanish-language song to top the chart since 1996, when “Macarena” reigned for 14 weeks.

Can they keep the crown next week? You know what to do: join us in seven days!
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An Indian film that addresses social themes and stars actor Aamir Kahn has captivated audiences in China. The film is thriving, despite the fact that India was the only major country to boycott Beijing’s Belt and Road Forum earlier this month.

But the irony and sharp contrast of those two developments was largely lost on the millions of Chinese viewers who have helped keep the Hindi language film land in the top slot, despite the fact that it has subtitles and no voice-over dubbing.

 

Analysts, film critics, and social media pundits are still debating what drove hordes of Chinese viewers to this movie, which is not your standard Bollywood mix of songs, dance and bloodletting violence.

 

Breaking new ground

 

According to industry sources, this is the first time a movie that was not made in Chinese or English has emerged as the top seller in the world’s second-largest movie market. China imports very few foreign films a year, and non-Hollywood movies make up an even smaller portion of that share.

 

A wide range of reasons are being forwarded as explanations for the success of Dangal, which has grossed $124 million since its May 5 release in 9,000 theaters across China. On Friday, three weeks after its release, the movie finally slipped from the first to the second highest selling slot. The runner-up, Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy 2, has brought in $98 million in China over the same period.

 

Perhaps an important reason for Dangal’s success is the celebrity status that Aamir Khan, the star and driving force behind the movie, has enjoyed in China for several years with his previous movies, PK and 3 Idiots, which did very well with Chinese movie-goers. Even before Dangal arrived on the Chinese scene, Amir had a bigger following on his Sina Weibo social media account than Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. His following now stands at 600,000 fans compared to Modi’s 165,000.

 

Deft marketing including personal canvassing by Khan, who spent a week traveling across Chinese cities, also played a part.

 

But critics and social media pundits in China see an altogether different reason. Thousands of reviews, articles and social media posts have focused on the peculiar connection between patriarchal society in China and India.

Patriarchy vs feminism

The film revolves around a wrestler father who forces his reluctant daughters to take up the sport.

 

His authoritarian and strict parenting style is something audiences in China can easily relate to, said Edward Chan, a sociology professor at Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

 

“I think the father role portrayed by the movie in India is quite similar to the culture, especially the traditional culture in China,” Chan said.

 

Tansen Sen, professor of history and Asian studies at the City University of New York said, “It has a story that resonates with the Chinese, both with regard to parent-child relationship as well as the fascination with sports.”

 

And while some feminists see the father’s behavior as problematic, they also see much to applaud in the story. For those that do, the movie is seen as empowering women.

Two feminist groups, Jianjiao Buluo (Screaming Pepper Tribe) and Cheng Yusan (Orange Umbrella) treated a group of 120 people to a free screening of the film in Guangzhou.

 

Lu, a 20-something entertainment industry employee, says the movie piqued her curiosity towards India, a country with a population as large as China. Lu says that many young Chinese like her want to follow their own dreams and have the support of their parents.

 

“I feel the father’s support for his children was especially moving and that parent’s strictness toward their children is for their own good,” Lu says.

 

The party-backed tabloid, the Global Times, slammed the movie for celebrating the values of a domineering father, who pushes his two reluctant daughters into wresting as a career choice. The paper said the film has sparked off a major controversy over different aspects of feminism in China, and whether modern day girls should completely reject the values of patriarchal society.

 

But the paper also quoted viewers who had a different viewpoint. “It made me think of my father,” the Times quoted one person as saying. “His reticent love for us. I wanted to call him, say nothing, just cry, and cry like a river to release myself from my deep regrets.”

 

Cao, a fan who says he has been watching Aamir Kahn’s movies for years said there are not enough films like Dangal in the Chinese market. He said he admires Kahn for his dedication to his profession (how he lost and gained weight) and the effort he put into addressing a social cause through the film.

 

“Just like people are saying online, he is influencing all of India as a country and all of its people,” Cao says “And I think that’s really great!”

Next Bollywood blockbuster?

 

Another Hindi movie, Tubelight, is waiting to access the Chinese market. It features Chinese actress and singer Zhu Zhu, and the story revolves around the 1962 India-China war. Analysts are asking if Beijing will allow its entry given its reluctance to discuss this war publicly.

 

“The two governments should just let the people know each other through free-flowing exchanges and interactions. Sometimes this will result in negative perceptions and misunderstandings, but it will eventually lead to a more nuanced and balanced views of each other,” Sen added.
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Laura Biagiotti, an Italian fashion designer who conquered global markets with her soft, loose women’s clothes and luxurious knits that won her the nickname “Queen of Cashmere,” died Friday following a heart attack. She was 73.

 

Biagiotti suffered the heart attack Wednesday evening at her estate outside of Rome. Doctors were able to resuscitate her, but by then serious brain damage had occurred.

 

Her daughter, Lavinia Biagiotti Cigna, announced her mother’s death on Twitter, conveying the news with a Biblical passage: “In the house of my father there are many places. If not, I would have told you. I am going to prepare a place for you.”

Began designing in 1960s

Biagiotti began designing women’s clothes in the 1960s and by the 1980s was making her mark.

 

In 1988, she became the first Italian designer to put on a fashion show in China, presenting dresses and blouses in silk and cashmere, and in 1995 was the first to have a show inside the Kremlin walls in Moscow.

 

She expanded into men’s clothing as well, and created a plus-size women’s line, Laura Piu, and a line for children.

 

Her company produced sunglasses and perfumes, including the popular “Roma” fragrance, named after Biagiotti’s home city.

‘Your religion for life’

Born Aug. 4, 1943, Biagiotti studied to become an archaeologist but abandoned those plans to help her mother run a dressmaking business.

 

In those early years, she traveled frequently to the United States to learn business and technology. After collaborating with such famous fashion houses as Shubert and Capucci, she presented her own collection in Florence in 1972. 

 

“Being a fashion designer is like taking vows. It becomes your religion for life,” she told The Associated Press in 1987. 

 

She was always deeply proud of her native Italy, and for years wore a cashmere shawl woven in the red, white and green colors of the nation’s flag.

 

“I’m convinced that the true gold mine in our country is the ‘Made in Italy’ label,” she said in 2011. 

Her home a castle

 

Biagiotti lived in a 14th-century castle on a hilltop outside of Rome that she had restored, and which was the headquarters for her business.

 

Her husband, Gianni Cigna, who had also been her business partner, died of leukemia in 1996.

 

She is survived by her daughter Lavinia, who works as the creative director of the fashion house. 
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National parks traveler Mikah Meyer had plenty of fun among giant powdery dunes recently, as he celebrated a milestone. He’s exactly one-third of the way through his 3-year journey to visit all 417 sites within the U.S. National Park Service. The young adventurer shared highlights of his 139th site visit with VOA’s Julie Taboh.
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On the political and military front, U.S.-China relations have been an often-tense dance between governments. However, in arts and education, many say the relationship is deepening. There is debate among Americans as to whether the ties are positive or negative.

Some say this is progress that is reaping economic and cultural benefits for citizens in both countries.

“When people collaborate on making anything artistic, there’s an emotional pull inside of that and if it works well, you not only have a great business, you also have a great diplomatic cohesion between the two countries,” said Chris Fenton, U.S.-Asia Institute Trustee and the President of DMG Entertainment.

In August, Fenton will be taking a group of U.S. lawmakers to China to look at the country’s growing entertainment and media industry, with the hope of even more Chinese investment in Hollywood.

Chinese language and culture

China has also been investing in educating Americans in language and culture through its Confucius Institutes. Mandarin immersion kindergarten teacher Carol Chen says the University of California Los Angeles Confucius Institute has been a good resource for her and her students.

“For example, books and also resources of our Chinese cultures. One of the years, they actually brought Chinese folk culture tradition to the campus,” said Chen, who teaches at Broadway Elementary, a dual language immersion school.

Funded by the Chinese government, there are nearly 500 Confucius Institutes globally, most on university campuses. The UCLA Confucius Institute taps into the local Mandarin-speaking population to develop a pipeline of Mandarin teachers. It also provides cross-cultural programs in the arts.

 

“Bringing more artists together and exposing them to each other’s culture and to shared cultural experience with China, you’re sort of training, sort of a new generation of diplomats,” said Susan Pertel Jain, UCLA Confucius Institute Executive Director.

But long-time critic and academic Perry Link says Confucius Institutes are an example of China’s soft power.

“Soft power is cultural or educational things that cause people in other countries to view one’s own country in a more friendly way. To reach out into the world with soft power is a new thing from the Chinese government’s point of view, but an important thing because the rest of the successful world seems to be doing it,” said Link, who is the University of California Riverside’s Chancellorial Chair for Innovation in Teaching Across Disciplines.

But Link says the presence of the Confucius Institutes on university campuses is dangerous because it often limits academic freedom to discuss China’s human rights issues.

“It’s induced self-censorship. That is, ‘We are going to give you these funds and you can invite speakers about China and the fund comes from Beijing and you know that and we know that.’ Now, as the director of a Confucius Institute, do you think, ‘Oh, I’ll invite the Dalai Lama’ to speak? No.Of course you don’t do that,” Link said.

But Jain said the UCLA Confucius Institute does not back away from touchy topics.

“Whether it’s artists that we present there who were active in sort of [an] anti-government movement or whether it’s the screening of films that are maybe not officially approved by the government, we don’t shy away from that, but what we always tell our colleagues in China is that we promise to always present everything in a fair and balanced way,” said Jain.

Entertainment industry

In the past, Hollywood movies have been America’s example of soft power.

Last fall, 16 members of Congress wrote a letter to the Government Accountability Office to express national security concerns about the growing number of Chinese investments in the United States, including in the media and entertainment industry.

“There is definitely a self-censorship. There is no doubt. I think the most obvious version of that was when self-censorship was not used and it really backfired,” said Fenton.

China is close to becoming the top global market at the box office and one that is much desired by Hollywood executives. If China closes that door to certain production studios in Hollywood, it will hurt financially.

“It’s a very large piece of the pie because it’s roughly seven billion in dollars,” Fenton said. “If you’re thinking like a business person, there is a certain creative vision you should have for the content you’re making that if you want to call it self-censorship that’s fine, or you call it just good business.”
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Toni Morrison praised the power of literature and the “community” of writers. James Patterson told some jokes, and even sang.

Both received Distinguished Service Awards Wednesday night at the 25th annual Authors Guild dinner gala, held in Manhattan. The Guild, which represents thousands of published writers, also gave a service award to the heads of the self-publishing platform IngramSpark.

The 86-year-old Morrison, who won the Nobel literature prize in 1993, was cited by longtime editor Robert Gottlieb for literary achievements in such novels as “Beloved” and “Song of Solomon,” and for her contributions as an editor and educator.

“We’re all here together,” Morrison reminded the audience, which included such fellow authors as Erica Jong and Walter Mosley. “We are a necessary community.”

Morrison warned of the dangers of “ignorance,” and called for language to be given its rightful place as a force of “power” and “eloquence,” rendered “one book at a time.”

Patterson, 70, was honored not only for his extraordinary commercial success, more than 300 million books sold worldwide, but also for donating millions of dollars to librarians, booksellers and schools.

Patterson’s productivity is hard to match. He sometimes turns out best-sellers on a monthly basis. The man who negotiates his book deals, Washington attorney Robert Barnett, was not kidding Wednesday night when he said that Patterson’s latest contract called for 22 books, to come out in two years.

Patterson spent much of his speech mocking his own image. He conjured a daily ritual in which he wrote multiple outlines for novels in the morning and ordered a gaggle of co-writers, kept under lock and key, to finish the job.

There were jokes about President Donald Trump, a gag about writing a “truer than truer crime” book with Russian President Vladimir Putin, some profanity and, to top it off, a few words from the song “You Light Up My Life.”

“I did not steal that from Will Ferrell’s speech at USC,” he added.
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Khizr Khan, the Gold Star father who became a national celebrity after speaking at last year’s Democratic National Convention, has a book planned for young readers.

Khan’s “This Is Our Constitution” comes out Nov. 14, Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers told The Associated Press on Thursday. The book arrives the same day as his memoir “An American Family,” announced last fall.

 

Khan is an immigrant from Pakistan whose son Capt. Humayun Khan was killed in Iraq in 2004. At the convention, Khizr Khan taunted Donald Trump for his divisive comments about Muslims and held up a pocket-sized edition of the Constitution, wondering if the Republican candidate had read it. According to Knopf, “This is Our Constitution” will help educate readers ages 10 and up about American history.

 
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