Month: December 2019

New York rapper A$AP Rocky was back in Sweden on Wednesday for a concert, four months after receiving a suspended sentence over a Stockholm street fight.The gig alongside Swedish rap artists Jireel, Z.E and Dree Low is set for Stockholm’s Ericsson Globe, a golf ball-shaped arena that is the world’s largest spherical building.A$AP Rocky’s booking agency Live Nation said part of the concert’s proceeds would go to charity.The 31-year-old rapper will have to be on good behaviour during his stay in Sweden to avoid seeing his suspended sentence change to a spell behind bars.A$AP Rocky, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, was arrested on July 3 a few days after a brawl in Stockholm in which he and his entourage were embroiled with a 19-year-old plaintiff.Considered a flight risk, he was held in custody for a month while the case was investigated and throughout his trial.Prosecutors had called for a six-month prison sentence, but the court said the actions of Mayers and two members of his entourage were not severe enough to warrant more time in prison.The court did not specify the length of the suspended sentence.Assault carries a maximum penalty of two years in prison in Sweden.Mayers’ imprisonment outraged fans, who started an online petition, #JusticeForRocky, which garnered more than 640,000 signatures.Supporters were urged to boycott Swedish brands such as Ikea.The case also led to diplomatic tensions after US President Donald Trump himself called for Mayers to be released.
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Formula 1 car racing will debut next year in Vietnam as the fast-growing host country tries to attract high-end tourism and its own moneyed citizens take an ever keener interest in sports.A racing circuit is due for completion next month in the capital Hanoi, Formula 1 says on its website. In April, the international car racing event will hold the country’s first Formula 1 Grand Prix.The race’s arrival in Vietnam, a country racked by widespread poverty and the aftershocks of war 40 years ago, shows that many people have the money as well as the interest to buy tickets and the goods sold by event sponsors, country analysts say.Hosting Formula 1 races is also expected to stimulate more tourism.“It’s probably one of the strategies of the government to increase value-added tourism and also to brand the tourism economy in a better way, and then of course Vietnam’s own more upper middle class population would be interested in these types of events,” said Rajiv Biswas, Asia-Pacific chief economist at market research firm IHS Markit.The Vietnam Grand Prix circuit will extend 5.6 kilometers, 1.5 kilometers of which will be straight. It will allow speeds of about 335 kilometers per hour.Formula 1 keen on VietnamThe race organizer spotted in Vietnam an increasingly market-driven economy experiencing a boom in tourism and a growing local population with a “large and young workforce as well as an increase in disposable income in recent years”, corporate communications head Liam Parker said.“Hanoi is one of the most exciting cities in the world right now with such a rich history and an incredible future ahead of it,” Parker told VOA. “This is the perfect formula for Grand Prix racing and we believe this will become a real highlight of the F1 calendar.”Formula One F1 – Vietnamese Grand Prix – Hanoi circuit – Hanoi, Vietnam – April 20, 2019. Red Bull team perform during the kickoff ceremony.Between 2010 and 2018, the number of foreign tourists in Vietnam expanded from 5 million to more than 15 million.Raising the inbound headcountVietnamese officials probably hope Formula 1 will draw more tourists, said Mark Thomas, executive consultant with OmniCom Experiential Group, a marketing firm with expertise in sports. The governments of host countries pay to host the races and build the racing infrastructure.Vietnam, like China 15 years ago, is an “up-and-coming nation that wants to showcase itself to the world,” Thomas said.“I sort of think it works for both sides,” he said. “The government gets what they want, which is a global sort of advertising platform for what they are and what they want to become, and Formula 1 and their owners get a nice check.”Officials probably hope the races will lure high-spending tourists, Biswas said. Some companies would take clients to the races as well to show hospitality, he said.The races evolved more than a century ago in Europe, were officially inaugurated in 1950 and are managed now by a federation in Paris. Organizers say the world television audience totals 490 million. Around Asia, Formula 1 holds other races in China, Japan and Singapore.China breaks even on its Shanghai circuit by renting it out between races, Thomas said. Malaysia stopped hosting Formula 1 in 2018 after losing money over 17 years.Vietnamese automaker VinFast will help the events in Hanoi as the title sponsor.More money, attention to sports among VietnameseMore than one-third of Vietnam’s 97 million people will be middle class or more by next year, the Boston Consulting Group forecasts. They’re living better mainly because a boom in export manufacturing has generated new jobs.Soccer and basketball have already gained followings as people have the money to buy event tickets and goods sold by event sponsors. A Grand Prix ticket costs $30 to $312, depending on the exact event date and location of seats.“Generally speaking, (the) sports economy is really starting to take root in Vietnam. People in Vietnam love certain sports, especially soccer and now they’re starting to like basketball,” said Frederick Burke, partner with the law firm Baker McKenzie in Ho Chi Minh City.“Vietnamese now have some leisure time and entertainment is really lacking, and people like to go to these games,” he said. “They do really well.”Car racing will grab the most attention among expatriates and white-collar Vietnamese men, especially those who already like cars, said Phuong Hong, a Ho Chi Minh City travel sector businessperson. “The upper class of Vietnam, who care about car, about autos, surely they will like this,” she said.Phuong herself hopes to make it to Hanoi for a Grand Prix.
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After a bomb exploded in a downtown Atlanta park midway through the 1996 Olympics, a security guard initially cast as a hero was recast as a villain virtually overnight. More than 20 years later, a movie to be released later this week, “Richard Jewell,” explores the roles played by law enforcement and the media in the guard’s ordeal.Now the movie is drawing its own share of criticism.Kevin Riley, the current editor of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, is disputing the film’s depiction of the newspaper’s reporting and decision-making processes, especially the portrayal of reporter Kathy Scruggs, who the movie implies traded sex with an FBI agent for a tip on the story.In an interview with The Associated Press, director Clint Eastwood dismissed the criticism of his movie, which is based on a 1997 Vanity Fair article by Marie Brenner, by saying the paper likely is looking to “rationalize” its actions.Jewell’s saga began on July 27, 1996, when he spotted an abandoned backpack during a concert in Centennial Olympic Park shortly before 1 a.m. and helped clear the area as federal agents determined it contained a bomb. The explosion about 20 minutes later killed 44-year-old Alice Hawthorne of Albany, Georgia, and injured 111 people, some of them seriously. A Turkish television cameraman died after suffering a heart attack while running to film the explosion’s aftermath.Jewell, who likely helped prevent many more casualties, was initially hailed as a hero but a few days later was reported to be the focus of the FBI investigation, and the public quickly turned on him.FILE – Photographers surround Richard Jewell prior to his testifying before a House Judiciary Crime subcommittee hearing, July 30, 1997, on the Olympic bombing in Atlanta.The park reopened within days, the games continued and Jewell was publicly cleared three months later. But he grappled with the fallout for the rest of his life, and Atlanta lived with the fear and unease of a bomber still at large.A new book, “The Suspect,” attempts to bring clarity to the aftermath of the bombing. Its authors were in the thick of it: Kent Alexander was the U.S. attorney in Atlanta when the bombing happened and Kevin Salwen led The Wall Street Journal’s southeastern section.In the frantic days after the bombing, Scruggs confirmed with law enforcement sources that the FBI was focusing on Jewell. The paper published that information three days after the explosion and scores of reporters descended on the apartment complex where Jewell lived with his mother, leaving them feeling as if they were under siege for months.Jewell had made clear his dream of working in law enforcement and was endlessly mocked as an overzealous but bumbling wannabe cop.It’s easy to say in hindsight that the investigation focused too heavily on Jewell, Alexander said. But some of Jewell’s actions and tips from people who knew him raised serious questions, the former prosecutor said. There was also the memory of a police officer at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles who was celebrated for disarming a bomb until it emerged that he’d planted it.Doubts about Jewell’s guilt surfaced quickly, especially once it became clear he couldn’t have made a 911 call reporting the bomb from a pay phone blocks away.In late October 1996, Alexander took the unusual step of sending a letter to one of Jewell’s attorneys saying Jewell was not a target of the investigation.”His name had been so badly muddied and tarnished that it just seemed like we should do something, so I did,” Alexander said.That left authorities sifting through dozens of possible suspects — the actual bomber, anti-government extremist Eric Rudolph, not among them. Rudolph, who was behind two more bombs in Atlanta in early 1997 and another in Alabama in January 1998, was eventually captured in 2003 and pleaded guilty in 2005.’Voice of God’The media frenzy surrounding Jewell drew backlash, and the Journal-Constitution was criticized for the “voice of God” style in its initial story, which carried no attribution and left the origin of the information unclear.Ron Martz, who shared a byline with Scruggs on the scoop, said questions and rumors swirled in the wake of the horrific attack and he saw it as a public service to let people know where the investigation stood.Scruggs had solid sources and the story had been through several editors, Martz said. Editors even had him take the highly unusual step of reading the entire story to an FBI spokesman to confirm that the information was correct and to make sure it wouldn’t jeopardize the investigation.But Martz said he regrets not pushing for clearer attribution on the original story, which could have spared the paper much grief with the addition of just five words: “according to law enforcement sources.”Once he was effectively cleared, Jewell’s lawyers filed libel suits against numerous news outlets. Most settled, but the Journal-Constitution didn’t. The legal battle continued for more than a decade, beyond Jewell’s death in 2007 at age 44. The courts ultimately ruled the newspaper’s stories weren’t libelous because they were substantially true when published.Criticism of the newspaper, and particularly Scruggs, was devastating to her, Martz said.”She felt very hurt by the way she was being portrayed and the fact that this was to be the shining moment of her career and people were going after her personally to get at her professionally,” he said.Scruggs was a “wild child,” loud, foul-mouthed and often provocative, Martz said, but she was also relentless, hard-nosed and one of the best reporters he ever worked with. She died at 42 in 2001 from an overdose of prescription drugs.Demand for disclaimerIn an op-ed, Journal-Constitution editor Riley wrote that there’s no evidence Scruggs committed the breach of journalistic ethics implied in the movie and disputed implications that the newspaper’s reporting was sloppy.Eastwood defended the depiction of Scruggs, saying he’d “read a lot of material” on her that seemed to “corroborate the fact that she was somewhat on the wild side.” He also said the news media sometimes rushes because of competition to be first, and “they pull the trigger before they’re dialed in.”In a letter sent Monday to Eastwood, a Warner Brothers lawyer and others, a lawyer for the newspaper demands a public statement that dramatization was used in the film’s portrayal of events and characters, and asks that a “prominent disclaimer” to that effect be added to the film.”It is highly ironic that a film purporting to tell a tragic story of how the reputation of an FBI suspect was grievously tarnished appears bent on a path to severely tarnish the reputation of the AJC,” lawyer Martin Singer wrote.Warner Brothers fired back, saying that the newspaper’s claims are baseless, that the film seeks to confirm Jewell’s innocence and restore his name.”It is unfortunate and the ultimate irony that the Atlanta Journal Constitution, having been a part of the rush to judgment of Richard Jewell, is now trying to malign our filmmakers and cast,” the studio wrote in a statement.
 
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A child prodigy from Belgium will enroll in a doctoral program in a U.S. university after his parents pulled him out of his Dutch college.Laurent Simons, 9, will attend an unnamed U.S. college and study for a Ph.D. in electrical engineering, his parents told CNN Tuesday.Simons was studying at the Eindhoven University of Technology (TUE). His parents wanted him to finish the three-year engineering program in 10 months, before his birthday on Dec. 26, so he could be the world’s first 9-year-old university graduate.His parents rejected a TUE offer to let him graduate in mid-2020.TUE said in a statement that it would not be feasible for Simons to complete the course before turning 10, while also developing “insight, creativity and critical analysis.”It also warned against placing “excessive pressure on this 9-year-old student” who, it said, had “unprecedented talent.”Alexander Simons, Laurent’s father, told CNN he and his wife withdrew their son from TUE because he had received an offer from an American school, and it would be impossible for him to split his time between the two schools.”Sometimes, you have to make choices,” Alexander Simons told CNN. “If he lets it go, you never know if he will get that opportunity again.”Had Laurent Simons graduated before his birthday, he would have unseated Michael Kearney, who graduated from the University of Alabama in 1984 at the age of 10.Kearney became the world’s youngest college graduate, a mark recognized by the Guinness World Records.
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A Pennsylvania appeals court rejected Bill Cosby’s bid to overturn his sexual assault conviction Tuesday over issues including the trial judge’s decision to let five other accusers testify.The Superior Court ruling was being closely watched because Cosby was the first celebrity tried and convicted in the (hash)MeToo era. The same issue was hard-fought in pretrial hearings before movie mogul Harvey Weinstein’s sexual assault trial.Cosby’s lawyers in his appeal said the suburban Philadelphia judge had improperly allowed the five women to testify at last year’s retrial although he’d let just one woman testify at the first trial in 2017.But the Superior Court said Pennsylvania law allows the testimony if it shows Cosby had a “signature” pattern of drugging and molesting women.“Here, the [prior bad act] evidence established appellant’s unique sexual assault playbook,” the court said, noting that “no two events will ever be identical.”The court went on to say that the similarities were no accident.“Not only did the [prior bad act] evidence tend to establish a predictable pattern of criminal sexual behavior unique to appellant, it simultaneously tended to undermine any claim that appellant was unaware of or mistaken about victim’s failure to consent to the sexual contact that formed the basis of the aggravated indecent assault charges,” the panel said in its ruling.Lawyers for Cosby had argued eight issues on appeal, including the judge’s decision to let prosecutors use portions of a deposition he gave in the accuser’s related civil suit. His lawyers also argued that he had a binding promise from a former prosecutor that he would never be charged in the case and could testify freely at a deposition in accuser Andrea Constand’s related lawsuit.The appeals court rejected those arguments and upheld the judge’s classification of Cosby as a sexually violent predator.Cosby, 82, can now ask the state Supreme Court to consider his appeal.He has been serving a three- to 10-year prison term for the 2004 encounter at his suburban Philadelphia home, which he deemed consensual.He was arrested a decade later, after a federal judge unsealed portions of the deposition at the request of The Associated Press and new prosecutors reopened the criminal case.The Superior Court panel, in arguments in Harrisburg in August, asked why Cosby’s lawyers didn’t get a written immunity agreement and have it approved by a judge, instead of relying on an oral promise.“This is not a low-budget operation we were operating here. They had an unlimited budget,” said Superior Court Judge John T. Bender, who questioned whether any court would have approved the deal.Judge Steven O’Neill’s decision to let the other accusers testify came after more than 60 women accused Cosby of sexual misconduct. Prosecutors asked to call 19 of them. Superior Court Judge John Bender appeared to agree with O’Neill’s logic in letting some take the stand.“The reality of it is, he gives them drugs and then he sexually assaults them. And in four out of the five, those were in mentor situations,” Bender said.Kristen L. Weisenberger, representing Cosby, said one of the women wasn’t even sure she was sexually assaulted. However, prosecutors said, that’s how Cosby planned it.O’Neill had allowed just one other accuser at Cosby’s first trial in 2017, when the jury deadlocked. Cosby’s lawyers called his later decision to let more women testify arbitrary and prejudicial.The long-married Cosby, once beloved as “America’s Dad” for his TV role as Dr. Cliff Huxtable on the hugely popular sitcom “The Cosby Show,” has acknowledged having sexual contact with a string of younger women, many of whom came to him for career advice and took alcohol or pills he offered them.He and his lawyers and agents have suggested that many of the accusers were gold diggers seeking money or fame. He told a news outlet in November that he expects to serve the maximum 10-year sentence if he loses the appeal, because he would never express remorse to the parole board.Cosby agreed to pay Constand, a former Temple University basketball team manager, about $3.4 million to settle her lawsuit. His insurance company, following his conviction, settled at least nine other defamation lawsuits filed by accusers for undisclosed sums.The AP does not typically identify sexual assault victims without their permission, which Constand has granted.
   
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The U.N. General Assembly unanimously approved a resolution Monday urging all nations to observe a truce during the 2020 Summer Olympics in Japan, saying sports can play a role in promoting peace and tolerance and preventing and countering terrorism and violent extremism.Diplomats burst into applause as the assembly president announced the adoption of the resolution by the 193-member world body.The resolution recalls the ancient Greek tradition of “ekecheiria,” which called for a cessation of hostilities to encourage a peaceful environment, ensure safe passage and participation of athletes in the ancient Olympics.The General Assembly revived the tradition in 1993 and has adopted resolutions before all Olympics since then calling for a cessation of hostilities for seven days before and after the games. But member states involved in conflicts have often ignored the call for a truce.Yoshiro Mori, head of the Tokyo organizing committee for the 2020 games, introduced the resolution calling on U.N. members states to observe the truce around next year’s Summer Olympics, being held July 24-Aug. 9, and the Paralympics, following on Aug. 25-Sept. 6.The resolution also urges nations to help “use sport as a tool to promote peace, dialogue and reconciliation in areas of conflict during and beyond” the games.Thomas Bach, president of the International Olympic Committee, told the General Assembly that as the United Nations approaches its 75th anniversary next year, an Olympic year, there is no better time to celebrate the shared values of both organizations to promote peace among all countries and people of the world.But he warned that “in sport, we can see an increasing erosion of the respect for the global rule of law.”Bach said the IOC’s political neutrality is undermined whenever organizations or individuals attempt to use the Olympic Games as a stage for their own agendas - as legitimate as they might be. The Olympicsare a sports celebration of our shared humanity … and must never be a platform to advance political or any other potentially divisive ends,” he said.Looking ahead, Bach announced that “we will achieve gender balance at the Olympic Games for the first time in Tokyo, with the highest-ever number of female athletes in history at about 49%.”He said Tokyo 2020 also aims “for carbon-neutral games,” saying medals will be made from recycled electronics and renewable energy and zero-emission vehicles will be used.The resolution notes that the Tokyo event will be the second of three Olympics in Asia, following the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, and ahead of the 2022 winter games in Beijing.It also notes that the Summer Olympics will give Japan the opportunity to express gratitude to countries and people around the world for their “solidarity and support” after the 2011 earthquake and “to deliver a powerful message to the world on how it has been recovering.”
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Hungary’s government submitted plans to parliament on Monday to tighten its control over theaters, triggering protests from actors and audiences who feel that artistic freedom is under threat.On a cold wet day, about 1,000 to 2,000 people demonstrated against the legislation in downtown Budapest, with banners saying “Pigs, hands off the theater!”Leading actors, theater directors and Budapest’s liberal mayor spoke at the protest against the bill which they say could undermine the independence of theaters.”I am a democrat, and this is a step towards stealing yet another field that belongs to the public: this time the theaters,” said Gabor Timar, 67, a retired bus driver.The ruling party of nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban wants to pass the bill in an accelerated process this week.A public petition urging lawmakers to reject the bill had gathered almost 50,000 signatures by Monday evening. Actors read out the petition at several theaters over the weekend.In a Facebook video, some of Hungary’s leading actors and theater directors said the plans recalled the communist era, when the state controlled most aspects of national life.Actors and the audience hold up their hands at Budapest’s Trafo threater in protest against a plan by Hungary’s government to tighten its control over theaters in Budapest, Hungary, Dec. 8, 2019.According to the draft law published on parliament’s website, which the government has softened compared with an original version leaked on Friday, a new National Cultural Council will be responsible for the “unified strategic direction of various segments of culture.”Hungary’s minister for human resources, who oversees culture, would have a say in appointing theater directors at institutions jointly financed by the state and municipalities.The minister and the relevant municipality would have to sign a deal defining the joint operation of a theater, including how to appoint its director, but this agreement “has to guarantee the artistic freedom of the theater,” the bill says.FILE – Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban talks to the media in Budapest, Hungary, Oct. 13, 2019.Since Orban won power in 2010, his right-wing Fidesz party has rewritten Hungary’s constitution, gained control of state media, and businessmen close to the prime minister and the party have built empires.After winning a 2018 election, his third in a row, Orban said he had won a “mandate to build a new era.”A government spokesman told Reuters on Friday that a recent sexual harassment case at a Budapest theater made the changes necessary as the government currently has no power to sack the director of the theater involved. 
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“Marriage Story,” Netflix’s heart-wrenching divorce saga, topped the Golden Globe nominations Monday with six nods including best drama, kicking off the race for the Oscars.”The Irishman,” Martin Scorsese’s three-and-a-half-hour gangster epic, and “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” Quentin Tarantino’s nostalgic love letter to 1960s Tinseltown, were hot on its heels with five each.The nominations traditionally see the stars and movies destined for awards success start to break away from the competition — the Globes are seen as a key bellwether for February’s Academy Awards.”Marriage Story” earned nominations for its stars Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver, and for its screenplay, but director Noah Baumbach missed out.Scorsese was nominated for best director for “Irishman” but there was no best actor nod for his leading man Robert De Niro. Instead, Al Pacino and Joe Pesci were both selected for supporting roles.Netflix’s Vatican drama “The Two Popes” also performed well, while dark comic book tale “Joker” received recognition in best drama, best actor and best director.Monday’s nominations were announced at an early-morning Beverly Hills ceremony by actor Tim Allen (“Toy Story”) and actresses Dakota Fanning (“I Am Sam”) and Susan Kelechi Watson (“This Is Us”).The 77th Golden Globes will take place in Los Angeles on January 5, two days before voting for Oscars nominees ends.The gala will be hosted by British comedian Ricky Gervais.
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South Africa’s Zozibini Tunzi was crowned Miss Universe 2019, giving the country its second title in in three years in a pageant that also saw strong showings from contestants from Puerto Rico and Mexico.
                   
Tunzi, a 26-year-old gender violence activist, said she was forced to abandon her studies for a year because of her family’s economic difficulties, but her modeling work allowed her to continue her education. She studied public relations at Cape Peninsula University of Technology.
                   
When asked during Sunday’s contest what it is most important to teach young girls today, Tunzi said leadership, unleashing a standing ovation at the Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta, Georgia.
                   
She said she grew up in a world where women who looked like her were not seen as beautiful. It is time for this to end, she said.
                   
Puerto Rico’s Madison Anderson was elected first finalist, and Miss Mexico Sofia Aragon second.
                   
Tunzi’s triumph is the second for South Africa in Miss Universe. South Africa’s Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters was crowned in 2017.
                  
A total of 90 countries participated in this year’s contest, which was hosted by Steve Harvey.
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