Month: January 2019

The tomb of Egypt’s famed boy pharaoh, King Tutankhamun, has undergone restoration to help minimize damage by tourists.

The work, done by the Getty Conservation Institute after years of research and officially presented Thursday, aims to minimize scratches, dust damage and microbiological growth from breath and humidity brought in by tourists.

The nearly intact tomb of King Tut, who ruled Egypt more than 3,000 years ago, was discovered in 1922 by Howard Carter in the Valley of the Kings, located on the west bank of the Nile River in Luxor.

For many, King Tut embodies ancient Egypt’s glory, because his tomb was packed with the glittering wealth of the 18th Dynasty, which ruled from 1569 to 1315 B.C.

 
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The tomb of Egypt’s famed boy pharaoh, King Tutankhamun, has undergone restoration to help minimize damage by tourists.

The work, done by the Getty Conservation Institute after years of research and officially presented Thursday, aims to minimize scratches, dust damage and microbiological growth from breath and humidity brought in by tourists.

The nearly intact tomb of King Tut, who ruled Egypt more than 3,000 years ago, was discovered in 1922 by Howard Carter in the Valley of the Kings, located on the west bank of the Nile River in Luxor.

For many, King Tut embodies ancient Egypt’s glory, because his tomb was packed with the glittering wealth of the 18th Dynasty, which ruled from 1569 to 1315 B.C.

 
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Detectives have recovered more surveillance footage of “Empire” actor Jussie Smullett walking in downtown Chicago before and after he says he was attacked by two masked men, but they still haven’t found video of the attack, a police spokesman said Thursday.

 

Spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said there are hundreds of surveillance cameras in the area, which is home to many high-end hotels and restaurants, and that the hope is that detectives will be able to piece them together to capture most if not all of Smollett’s trip from a Subway restaurant to his apartment at about 2 a.m. Tuesday, when Smollett said the attack occurred.

 

Guglielmi said piecing together the private and public surveillance video is tedious work that is made more difficult by the fact that the time stamps on various cameras may not be in sync, meaning detectives have to figure out the exact times of events.

 

“It’s like putting together a puzzle,” he said.

 

Guglielmi also said police have recovered video that shows the 36-year-old actor walking into his apartment, but that he hasn’t seen it and doesn’t know if Smollett appeared to be in any distress when he arrived home.

 

He said that Smollett and his manager told detectives they were talking on the phone at the time of the attack, but that Smollett declined to turn over his phone records to the detectives, who routinely ask for such information during criminal investigations.

 

Meanwhile, police are hoping to identify and talk to the two people who were walking in the area at the time of the attack and whose images police released to the public late Wednesday. Guglielmi stressed that the people are not considered suspects and that police want to question them because they were in the vicinity and might have information that could be useful to the investigation.

 

Smollett, who is black and gay and plays the gay character Jamal Lyon on the hit Fox television show, said the men beat him, subjected him to racist and homophobic insults, threw an “unknown chemical substance” on him and put a thin rope around his neck before fleeing. Smollett returned to his apartment afterward and his manager called police from there about 40 minutes later, Guglielmi said.

When officers arrived, the 36-year-old actor had cuts and scrapes on his face and the rope around his neck that he said had been put there by his assailant. According to Guglielmi, Smollett later went to Northwestern Memorial Hospital after police advised him to do so.

 

Reports of the attack drew a flood of outrage and support for Smollett on social media. Some of the outrage stemmed from Smollett’s account to detectives that his attackers yelled that he was in “MAGA country,” an apparent reference to the Trump campaign’s “Make America Great Again” slogan.

 

The FBI is investigating a threatening letter targeting Smollett that was sent last week to the Fox studio in Chicago where “Empire” is filmed, Guglielmi said. The FBI has declined to comment on the investigation.

 

Guglielmi said Wednesday that detectives, who are investigating the allegations as a possible hate crime, have looked at hundreds of hours of surveillance video from that section of the Streeterville neighborhood. But he said they still needed to collect and view more in the hopes of finding footage of the attack or of the men who match Smollett’s description of the suspects.

 

In addition to his acting career, Smollett has a music career and is a noted activist, particularly on LBGTQ issues. Smollett’s representative said his concert scheduled for Saturday in Los Angeles will go on as planned. Smollett has not spoken publicly about the attack, but his representative told The Associated Press on Wednesday night that the actor “is at home and recovering.”

 

Now in its fifth season, the hourlong drama “Empire” follows an African-American family as they navigate the ups and downs of the record industry. Smollett’s character is the middle son of Empire Entertainment founder Lucious Lyon and Cookie Lyon, played by Terrence Howard and Taraji P. Henson, respectively.

 

Chicago has one of the nation’s most sophisticated and extensive video surveillance systems, including thousands of cameras on street poles, skyscrapers, buses and in train tunnels.

 

Police say the cameras have helped them make thousands of arrests. In one of the best-known examples of the department’s use of the cameras, investigators in 2009 were able to recreate a school board president’s 20-minute drive through the city, singling out his car on a succession of surveillance cameras to help them determine that he committed suicide and had not been followed and killed by someone else, as his friends speculated.

 

 
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Detectives have recovered more surveillance footage of “Empire” actor Jussie Smullett walking in downtown Chicago before and after he says he was attacked by two masked men, but they still haven’t found video of the attack, a police spokesman said Thursday.

 

Spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said there are hundreds of surveillance cameras in the area, which is home to many high-end hotels and restaurants, and that the hope is that detectives will be able to piece them together to capture most if not all of Smollett’s trip from a Subway restaurant to his apartment at about 2 a.m. Tuesday, when Smollett said the attack occurred.

 

Guglielmi said piecing together the private and public surveillance video is tedious work that is made more difficult by the fact that the time stamps on various cameras may not be in sync, meaning detectives have to figure out the exact times of events.

 

“It’s like putting together a puzzle,” he said.

 

Guglielmi also said police have recovered video that shows the 36-year-old actor walking into his apartment, but that he hasn’t seen it and doesn’t know if Smollett appeared to be in any distress when he arrived home.

 

He said that Smollett and his manager told detectives they were talking on the phone at the time of the attack, but that Smollett declined to turn over his phone records to the detectives, who routinely ask for such information during criminal investigations.

 

Meanwhile, police are hoping to identify and talk to the two people who were walking in the area at the time of the attack and whose images police released to the public late Wednesday. Guglielmi stressed that the people are not considered suspects and that police want to question them because they were in the vicinity and might have information that could be useful to the investigation.

 

Smollett, who is black and gay and plays the gay character Jamal Lyon on the hit Fox television show, said the men beat him, subjected him to racist and homophobic insults, threw an “unknown chemical substance” on him and put a thin rope around his neck before fleeing. Smollett returned to his apartment afterward and his manager called police from there about 40 minutes later, Guglielmi said.

When officers arrived, the 36-year-old actor had cuts and scrapes on his face and the rope around his neck that he said had been put there by his assailant. According to Guglielmi, Smollett later went to Northwestern Memorial Hospital after police advised him to do so.

 

Reports of the attack drew a flood of outrage and support for Smollett on social media. Some of the outrage stemmed from Smollett’s account to detectives that his attackers yelled that he was in “MAGA country,” an apparent reference to the Trump campaign’s “Make America Great Again” slogan.

 

The FBI is investigating a threatening letter targeting Smollett that was sent last week to the Fox studio in Chicago where “Empire” is filmed, Guglielmi said. The FBI has declined to comment on the investigation.

 

Guglielmi said Wednesday that detectives, who are investigating the allegations as a possible hate crime, have looked at hundreds of hours of surveillance video from that section of the Streeterville neighborhood. But he said they still needed to collect and view more in the hopes of finding footage of the attack or of the men who match Smollett’s description of the suspects.

 

In addition to his acting career, Smollett has a music career and is a noted activist, particularly on LBGTQ issues. Smollett’s representative said his concert scheduled for Saturday in Los Angeles will go on as planned. Smollett has not spoken publicly about the attack, but his representative told The Associated Press on Wednesday night that the actor “is at home and recovering.”

 

Now in its fifth season, the hourlong drama “Empire” follows an African-American family as they navigate the ups and downs of the record industry. Smollett’s character is the middle son of Empire Entertainment founder Lucious Lyon and Cookie Lyon, played by Terrence Howard and Taraji P. Henson, respectively.

 

Chicago has one of the nation’s most sophisticated and extensive video surveillance systems, including thousands of cameras on street poles, skyscrapers, buses and in train tunnels.

 

Police say the cameras have helped them make thousands of arrests. In one of the best-known examples of the department’s use of the cameras, investigators in 2009 were able to recreate a school board president’s 20-minute drive through the city, singling out his car on a succession of surveillance cameras to help them determine that he committed suicide and had not been followed and killed by someone else, as his friends speculated.

 

 
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Some people take their pet dogs everywhere they can. One place where they are always welcome is at doga — yoga classes for dogs and humans. While the pet parents get into their yoga poses, like downward-facing dog, their pups get petted and held. VOA’s Deborah Block takes us to a doga class in Alexandria, Virginia, where people and pups are having a good time.
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Some people take their pet dogs everywhere they can. One place where they are always welcome is at doga — yoga classes for dogs and humans. While the pet parents get into their yoga poses, like downward-facing dog, their pups get petted and held. VOA’s Deborah Block takes us to a doga class in Alexandria, Virginia, where people and pups are having a good time.
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James Ingram, the Grammy-winning singer who launched multiple hits on the R&B and pop charts and earned two Oscar nominations for his songwriting, has died, according to a close associate. He was 66.

 

Debbie Allen, an actress-choreographer and frequent collaborator with Ingram, announced his death on Twitter on Tuesday. Attempts by The Associated Press to confirm his death with Ingram’s family or representatives have been unsuccessful.

 

Ingram was born February 16, 1952 in Akron, Ohio.

Wins Grammy for ‘One Hundred Ways’

 

He appeared on Quincy Jones’ 1981 album, “The Dude,” which earned him three Grammy nominations and one win for best R&B male vocal performance for “One Hundred Ways.”

 

In a statement Tuesday, Jones called Ingram his “baby brother.”

 

“With that soulful, whisky sounding voice, James Ingram was simply magical … every beautiful note that James sang pierced your essence and comfortably made itself at home,” Jones said. “But it was really no surprise because James was a beautiful human being, with a heart the size of the moon. James Ingram was, and always will be, beyond compare.”

 

In 1983 Ingram released his debut album, “It’s Your Night,” which included the hit “Yah Mo Be There.” The song, which featured Michael McDonald, became a Top 20 hit on the Billboard pop charts and won the Grammy for best R&B performance by a duo or group with vocal.

Reached top of pop charts

 

Ingram also reached the top of the pop charts twice with the songs “I Don’t Have the Heart” and “Baby, Come to Me,” a duet with Patti Austin. “Somewhere Out There,” Ingram’s collaboration with Linda Ronstadt from the 1986 film “An American Tail,” reached No. 2 on the pop charts.

 

Ingram was also a talented songwriter: Alongside Jones, he co-wrote Michael Jackson’s “P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing),” earning him a Grammy nomination for best R&B song. Ingram scored Oscar nominations for best original song with “The Day I Fall In Love” from “Beethoven’s 2nd” and “Look What Love Has Done” from “Junior.”

 

Both tracks also competed for best original song at the Golden Globes.
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The Georgia O’Keeffe Museum has purchased the American artist’s “Ritz Tower” painting, a rare work of her take on a New York skyscraper, the museum announced this week.

Officials at the Santa Fe, New Mexico, museum said it bought the 1928 piece in October from a private collector but declined to say how much it cost. 

Last year, the museum sold three of the artist’s lesser works for $19.5 million to add to its acquisition fund.

The slender painting is one of O’Keeffe’s rare depictions of skyscrapers in New York City.

Throughout the 1920s, O’Keeffe lived in New York with her husband, photographer Alfred Stieglitz. 

Work fills museum gap 

O’Keeffe created the image after her male peers discouraged her from painting New York subjects. “The men decided they didn’t want me to paint New York … They told me to ‘leave New York to the men.’ I was furious!” O’Keeffe said years later.

Museum curator Ariel Plotek said the work fills a hole in its collection since O’Keeffe painted few New York skyscraper scenes.

“It is a dynamic, glamorous portrayal,” Plotek said. “O’Keeffe effectively rendered the spirit of the city by making it a night scene teeming with energy. She used the bright punches of electric light, the soaring architecture, and the glow of the moon to great effect.”

Painting will be on view March 1

Ritz Tower will be on view in the museum’s galleries beginning on March 1.

Wisconsin-born O’Keeffe, known for her modernist and surreal images of the American Southwest, lived and painted for decades in Abiquiu, New Mexico. 

She died in Santa Fe in 1986.
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A new documentary called Gaza is hitting the screens at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival this week, providing a colorful glimpse of life in the blockaded Hamas-ruled territory. But one of its main subjects, Gaza actor and playwright Ali Abu Yaseen, won’t be attending the gathering due to the very circumstances depicted in the film.

Abu Yaseen had hoped to make his first-ever trip to the U.S. to take part in the festival. But the continued closure of Gaza’s border with Egypt, and Hamas’ bureaucratic inefficiency, made it impossible for him to reach Cairo in time to receive a visa from the American Embassy needed to travel to Utah.

After missing Tuesday’s premiere, Abu Yaseen has all but given up hope of reaching Utah on time. The film’s final screening is Saturday.

“I’m seething with indignation,” he said in an interview at his home in the Shati refugee camp in Gaza City. “The dream that I had for the past three months has all but collapsed.”

Gaza, a 90-minute film, is among 12 contestants in the World Cinema Documentary competition at Sundance. Directed by award-winning Irish film makers Garry Keane and Andrew McConnell, the work takes a look at everyday life in Gaza, from wars and their traumas to young people’s pastimes and aspirations.

Plays written by Abu Yaseen and stage performances by his students appear in the film.

Abu Yaseen, one of Gaza’s most famous entertainers, said the film shows that Gazans “can sing, present an important theater and smile in the face of the unjust world.”

“The bizarre, wonderful fantasy of Gaza was our message of love to the world, which sees Gaza as Tora Bora,” Abu Yaseen said, referring to the stronghold of Taliban extremists in Afghanistan.

Closed borders

Israel and Egypt sealed their borders with Gaza after the Islamic militant Hamas group seized power there in 2007 following bloody fighting against forces of President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah. Abbas’ Western-backed Palestinian Authority has controlled parts of the West Bank since then.

Over the past decade, Hamas and Israel fought three devastating wars, and repeated attempts to reconcile Hamas and Fatah have all but faltered. Gaza’s economy is in tatters, electricity is supplied for half the day at best, tap water is undrinkable and the threat of renewed fighting with Israel is constant.

The blockade has made it virtually impossible for most Gazans to travel abroad. Israel allows only small numbers of Gazans, usually humanitarian cases, to exit through its Erez crossing. Instead, the vast majority of Gazan travelers must exit through Egypt, which only opens the border a few days a month.

Abu Yaseen said he was thrilled to receive an invitation to Sundance in December. Just as he was applying for a travel permit early this month, Egypt unexpectedly closed the border crossing for three weeks. Without notice, Egypt suddenly opened the crossing this week, giving Abu Yaseen little time to get to Cairo, receive a visa and board a flight to Utah.

More powerful than ‘a million bullets’

On Tuesday evening, he learned that his name was not on the list cleared by Hamas to travel.

“I don’t know how the system works here. There is something wrong,” he said, directing his anger at Hamas. “They should have pleaded with me to travel and represent Palestine because this film is more important than 1,000 or a million bullets.”

Iyad al-Bozum, spokesman for Hamas’ Interior Ministry, said he was unaware of Abu Yaseen’s case, but noted that the crossing can only handle a small fraction of applicants. He said 15,000 Gazans are currently in urgent need to travel, while only 200 can make it out on a single day when the crossing is working.

“There are patients who died in Gaza waiting to travel. There are students who missed their scholarships, and there are people whose residency permits in outside countries expired,” he said. “This is disaster for every Palestinian in Gaza.”

In 2017, the Palestinian Authority regained partial control of the Rafah border crossing in a deal with Hamas. But on Jan. 6, just when Abu Yaseen and a freelancer who worked on the film registered to travel to Cairo, the Palestinian Authority withdrew from the crossing to protest what it called Hamas’ “abuses and harassment.” The border only reopened Tuesday, under Hamas control for the first time in two years.

Abu Yaseen had one of his works participating in a major film festival in Cairo 25 years ago, calling the experience a “great achievement.” But he said that appearing at Sundance would have been “the most memorable of all.”

Speaking in a videotaped Skype interview from the festival, McConnell, the co-director, said the voices of Abu Yaseen and the freelance production assistant, Fady Hossam, would have been “hugely powerful here in Utah.”

“Who better to explain that than Gazans themselves? So, it’s disappointing,” McConnell told The Associated Press from Park City.

Abu Yaseen has visited Europe, but has never been to America. He was excited for the trip and was reading about Utah, learning, for example, that it’s almost half the size of Iraq. On his laptop, he flipped through pictures of snowcapped hills, canyons and lakes from the state. A longtime fan of Robert Redford, Abu Yaseen mostly regrets having lost the opportunity to meet the Sundance founder in the flesh.

Now that he realized he won’t make it to Utah, Abu Yaseen picked up his oud, the Middle Eastern stringed instrument, and played and sang a tune by Lebanese singer Marcel Khalife, starting with “they stopped me at the border, asking for my I.D.”
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