Month: December 2022

Eddie Murphy will receive the Cecil B. DeMille Award at the 80th Golden Globes, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced Wednesday.

The honorary award for the comedian and actor adds to a broadcast that’s taking shape after two years of scandal and backlash tarnished the Globes. After taking the previous Globes off the air, NBC will telecast the ceremony January 10, with comedian Jerrod Carmichael hosting.

On a one-year deal with NBC, the Globes are attempting to make a comeback after a Los Angeles Times investigation in early 2021 found that the press association then had no Black members and enumerated a long history of ethical indiscretions. Many stars and studios said they would boycott the show, and NBC canceled the 2022 broadcast.

The films “The Banshees of Inisherin” and “Everything Everywhere All at Once” led in nominations to the Globes announced Monday. “Abbott Elementary” topped TV nominees.

Murphy has been nominated for a Globe six times before, winning once, for his performance in 2006’s “Dreamgirls.” His most recent nomination was for best actor in a comedy or musical for 2019’s “Dolemite is My Name.”

Previous recipients of the Cecil B. DeMille Award include Tom Hanks, Oprah Winfrey and Meryl Streep.
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Tolerance for Native American-themed sports mascots is wearing thin across the United States. New York is the latest state to ban them from public schools. Activists say conversations about the mascots — and respect and equality are long overdue. VOA’s Veronica Balderas Iglesias reports. Cecily Hilleary and Lynn Davis contributed to this report.
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Jin, the oldest member of K-pop supergroup BTS, began his 18 months of mandatory military service at a front-line South Korean boot camp Tuesday as fans gathered near the base to say goodbye to their star.

Six other younger BTS members are to join the military in coming years one after another, meaning that the world’s biggest boy band must take a hiatus, likely for a few years. Their enlistments have prompted a fierce domestic debate over whether it’s time to revise the country’s conscription system to expand exemptions to include prominent entertainers like BTS, or not to provide such benefits to anyone.

With lawmakers squabbling at Parliament and surveys showing sharply split public opinions over offering exemptions to BTS members, their management agency said in October that all members would perform their compulsory military duties. Big Hit Music said that both the company and the members of BTS “are looking forward to reconvening as a group again around 2025 following their service commitment.”

Jin, who turned 30 earlier this month, entered the boot camp at Yeoncheon, a town near the tense border with North Korea, for five weeks of basic military training together with other new conscript soldiers, the Defense Ministry said. After the training involving rifle shooting, grenade throwing and marching practices, he and other conscripts would be assigned to army units across the country.

About 20-30 fans — some holding Jin’s photos — and dozens of journalists gathered near the camp. But a vehicle carrying Jin moved into the camp without him getting out. The BTS official Twitter account later posted photos showing Jin with other members, likely at the camp, with a message saying: “Our bro!! Have a safe service!! Love you.”

One image showed smiling members touching Jin’s shaved head.

“I want to wait (for) Jin and see him go into the military and wish him all the best,” Mandy Lee from Hong Kong said before Jin’s entrance to the camp.

“Actually it’s complicated. I wanna be sad. I wanna be happy for him,” said Angelina from Indonesia. “Mixed feelings. He has to serve (for) his country.” Angelina, like many Indonesians, uses only one name.

A couple dozen fans could be seen as a small turnout given Jin’s huge popularity. But Jin and his management agency had earlier asked fans not to visit the site and notified them there wouldn’t be any special event involving the singer, in order to prevent any issue caused by crowding.

Authorities still mobilized 300 police officers, soldiers, emergency workers and others to maintain order and guard against any accidents. Strict safety steps were expected as South Korea is still reeling from the devastating Halloween crush in October in Seoul that killed 158 people. 

Jin — whose real name is Kim Seok-jin — wrote on the online fan platform Weverse earlier Tuesday that “It’s time for a curtain call.” He posted a photo of himself Sunday with a military buzz cut and a message saying, “Ha ha ha. It’s cuter than I had expected.”

By law, all able-bodied South Korean men must serve in the military for 18-21 months under a conscription system established to deal with threats from North Korea. But the law gives special exemptions to athletes, classical and traditional musicians, and ballet and other dancers if they have won top prizes in certain competitions and enhance national prestige. K-pop stars and other entertainers aren’t given such benefits even if they gain worldwide fame and win big international awards.

Jin had faced an impending enlistment because the law disallows most men from further delaying their military service after they turn 30.

“Those in the pop culture sector experience little bit of disadvantages and unfairness, compared with those in the pure art sector or athletes,” Jung Duk-hyun, a pop culture commentator, said. “This will likely continue to be an issue of controversy so I wonder if it must be discussed continuously.”

Exemptions or dodging of duties are a highly sensitive issue in South Korea, where the draft forces young men to suspend their studies or professional careers. Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup previously said it would be “desirable” for BTS members to fulfill their military duties to ensure fairness in the country’s military service.

Chun In-bum, a retired lieutenant general who commanded South Korea’s special forces, said the government must move to repeal any exemptions as the military’s shrinking recruitment pool is “a very serious” problem amid the country’s declining fertility rate.

BTS was created in 2013 and has a legion of global supporters who call themselves the “Army.” Its other members are RM, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V and Jungkook, who is the youngest at 25. The group expanded its popularity in the West with its 2020 megahit “Dynamite,” the band’s first all-English song that made BTS the first K-pop act to top Billboard’s Hot 100. The band has performed in sold-out arenas around the world and was even invited to speak at United Nations meetings. 

Hybe Corp., the parent company of Big Hit, said in October that each member of the band for the time being would focus on individual activities scheduled around their military service plans. In October, Jin released “The Astronaut,” a single co-written by Coldplay.

Jung, the commentator, said sold projects could give BTS members much-needed time to develop themselves after working together as a group for many years. But Cha Woo-jin, a K-pop commentator, said it’s unclear if BTS would enjoy the same popularity as a group when they get together again after finishing their military duties in a few years.

In August, Lee, the defense minister, said BTS members who are serving would likely be allowed to continue practicing and to join other non-serving BTS members in overseas group tours.

Cha said K-pop’s global influence wouldn’t be hurt much because of BTS members’ enlistments as they “appear to represent K-pop but aren’t everything of K-pop.” Chung agreed, saying that other K-pop groups like BLACKPINK, Stray Kids and Aespa could rise further. 
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Abigail Kinoiki Kekaulike Kawananakoa, the so-called last Hawaiian princess whose lineage included the royal family that once ruled the islands and an Irish businessman who became one of Hawaii’s largest landowners, died on Sunday. She was 96.

Her death was announced Monday morning at ‘Iolani Palace, America’s only royal residence where the Hawaiian monarchy dwelled but now serves mostly as a museum. The announcement came from Paula Akana, executive director of Iolani Palace, and Hailama Farden of Hale O Na Ali’i O Hawaii, a royal Hawaiian society.

No cause of death was given.

She held no formal title but was a living reminder of Hawaii’s monarchy and a symbol of Hawaiian national identity that endured after the kingdom was overthrown by American businessmen in 1893.

“She was always called princess among Hawaiians because Hawaiians have acknowledged that lineage,” Kimo Alama Keaulana, assistant professor of Hawaiian language and studies at Honolulu Community College, said in a 2018 interview. “Hawaiians hold dear to genealogy. And so genealogically speaking, she is of high royal blood.”

He called her “the last of our alii,” using the Hawaiian word for royalty: “She epitomizes what Hawaiian royalty is – in all its dignity and intelligence and art.”

James Campbell, her great-grandfather, was an Irish businessman who made his fortune as a sugar plantation owner and one of Hawaii’s largest landowners.

He married Abigail Kuaihelani Maipinepine Bright. Their daughter, Abigail Campbell Kawananakoa, married Prince David Kawananakoa, who was named an heir to the throne.

After the prince died, his widow adopted young Abigail, which strengthened her claim to a princess title. She acknowledged in an interview with Honolulu Magazine in 2021 that had the monarchy survived, her cousin Edward Kawananakoa would be in line to be the ruler, not her.

“Of course, I would be the power behind the throne, there’s no question about that,” she joked.

As an only child of an only child, Kawananakoa received more Campbell money than anyone else and amassed a trust valued at about $215 million.

She funded various causes over the years, including scholarships for Native Hawaiian students, opposing Honolulu’s rail transit project, supporting protests against a giant telescope, donating items owned by King Kalakaua and Queen Kapi’olani for public display, including a 14-carat diamond from the king’s pinky ring, and maintaining Iolani Palace.

Critics have said because there are other remaining descendants of the royal family who don’t claim any titles, Kawananakoa was held up as the last Hawaiian princess simply because of her wealth and honorific title.

Hawaiian activist Walter Ritte said many Hawaiians aren’t interested in whether she was a princess and that her impact on Indigenous culture was minimal.

“We didn’t quite understand what her role was and how she could help us,” Ritte said.

Many Hawaiians couldn’t relate to her, he said. “We call it the high maka-maks,” he said using a Hawaii Pidgin term that can mean upper class.

Born in Honolulu, Kawananakoa was educated at Punahou, a prestigious prep school. She also attended an American school in Shanghai and graduated from the all-female Notre Dame High School in Belmont, California, where she was a boarding student.

She was engaged briefly to a man, but most of her long-term relationships were with women.

“She was always curious about what people would do for money,” said Jim Wright, who was her personal attorney since 1998 until she fired him in 2017 during a bitter court battle over control of her trust.

He recalled a time when the bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Honolulu asked for a $100,000 gift to mark the canonization of St. Marianne. She told him she would give the church the money only if she could get a photo of Pope Benedict XVI accepting her check, Wright said.

When the bishop agreed, Kawananakoa was disappointed. “She was really hoping they would tell her to buzz off,” Wright said.

Meanwhile, she found the Dalai Lama’s refusal to accept her monetary gifts in 2012 pleasing, Wright said: “She was so pleased that somebody actually had some integrity.”

One of her passions was breeding racehorses.

She was inducted into the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame in 2018, with the American Quarter Horse Association noting she was the industry’s “all-time leading female breeder at the reins of an operation that has produced the earners of more than $10 million.”

One of her horses, A Classic Dash, won $1 million in 1993 in New Mexico’s All-American Futurity.

Aside from drawing attention with her racehorses, Kawananakoa gained notoriety when she sat on an Iolani Palace throne for a Life magazine photo shoot in 1998. She damaged some of its fragile threads.

The uproar led to her ouster as president of Friends of Iolani Palace, a position she had held for more than 25 years.

The battle over control of her trust began when a judge approved Wright as a trustee after she suffered a stroke. She claimed she wasn’t impaired, fired Wright and married Veronica Gail Worth, her partner of 20 years.

Court filings in the case alleged the wife physically abused Kawananakoa. Attorneys for the couple disputed the claims.

In 2018, Kawananakoa attempted to amend her trust to ensure that her wife would receive $40 million and all her personal property, according to court records.

In 2020, a judge ruled that Kawananakoa was unable to manage her property and business affairs because she was impaired.

For hearings in the case, her wife would drive them to a handicapped stall near the back entrance of a downtown Honolulu courthouse in a black Rolls Royce.

“My wife? Oh, wifey,” she said in a video interview her publicist released in 2019 to respond to allegations raised in the court case, including how her wife was treating her. “If it wasn’t for Gail, I wouldn’t be as normal as you see me now,” she said in the video showing her coiffed hair, made-up face and red manicure.

It was “heartbreaking,” she said, to be unable to fulfill her obligation to the Hawaiian people amid legal wrangling over her trust.

“My heritage dictates that I must take care of the Hawaiian people,” she said during one court hearing.
…

After scandal and boycott plunged the Hollywood Foreign Press Association into disarray and knocked its annual award show off television for a year, the Golden Globes geared up Monday for its return by showering nominations on “The Banshees of Inisherin” and “Everything Everywhere all at Once.”

The nominations were read by father-daughter duo George and Mayan Lopez on NBC’s “Today” morning show. The nominees for best film, drama, are: “The Fabelmans,” “Top Gun: Maverick,” “Elvis,” “Tar” and “Avatar: The Way of Water.”

The nominees for best film, comedy or musical, are: “The Banshees of Inisherin,” “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery,” “Babylon” and “Triangle of Sadness.”

Martin McDonagh’s feuding friends tale “The Banshees of Inisherin” led all films with eight nominations. The madcap metaverse film “Everything Everywhere all at Once” came in second with six nominations.

Among the nominees for best actor in a drama is Brendan Fraser. Fraser has said he won’t attend the Globes after he said he was groped in 2003 by Philip Berk, a longtime HFPA member and former president of the organization.

The Globes will be telecast January 10, with stand-up comedian Jerrod Carmichael hosting.

The Globes are trying to mount a comeback this year. A Los Angeles Times investigation in early 2021 found that the group then had no Black members, a revelation compounded by other allegations of ethical improprieties. Many stars and studios said they would boycott the show. Tom Cruise returned his three Globes.

NBC last year canceled the telecast that would have taken place this past January. Instead, the Golden Globes were quietly held in a Beverly Hilton ballroom without any stars in attendance. Winners were announced on Twitter.
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Todd Field’s symphonic backstage drama “Tár” and the existential comedy “Everything Everywhere All at Once” tied for top honors with the Los Angeles Film Critics Association in awards announced Sunday. 

The critics group opted to split its best film award between the two acclaimed films. “Tár,” which was also chosen as best film by the New York Film Critics Circle, cleaned up in other categories as well. Field won for both directing and screenplay, and Cate Blanchett, who stars as an internationally renowned conductor, won best lead performance. The critics, who don’t separate award by gender, also gave best lead performance to Bill Nighy for the “Ikiru” remake “Living.” 

“Everything Everywhere All at Once,” the madcap metaverse movie from Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, also picked up an award for Ke Huy Quan, for supporting performer. The former child star added to his rapidly increasingly awards haul for his lauded comeback performance. The other supporting performer winner was Dolly de Leon from Ruben Östlund’s class satire “Triangle of Sadness.” 

Other winners from LAFCA included Guillermo del Toro’s “Pinocchio” for best animation; Jerzy Skolimowski’s “EO” for best non-English language film; and Laura Poitras’ “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed” for best documentary. 

The critics will hand out their awards at a gala on January 14. The French filmmaker Claire Denis was previously announced as the recipient of the group’s career achievement award. Last year, the LAFCA awarded Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s “Drive My Car” best film. 
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Boycotted by A-listers and studios last year, the Golden Globes will attempt to rebuild their reputation as one of Hollywood’s top award shows with organizers unveiling this year’s nominees on Monday.   

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which organizes the film and television awards, has scrambled to reform itself since long-harbored criticisms of the group’s practices went public in early 2021.   

Tinseltown completely distanced itself from the Globes last January over voters’ lack of diversity, alleged corruption and lack of professionalism, and the show took place behind closed doors.   

But broadcaster NBC has gambled that it is time to bring back the glitzy gala, which will take place in Beverly Hills on January 10.  

Tinseltown is waiting to see which stars will show up. Much of that will depend on who is nominated.   

Tom Cruise and Brendan Fraser are both seen as strong contenders this awards season for their lead roles in “Top Gun: Maverick” and “The Whale,” respectively.   

But Cruise last year returned his three Golden Globes to the HFPA in protest at its behavior, and Fraser has said he will not attend the awards if he is nominated.    

“It’s because of the history that I have with them. And my mother didn’t raise a hypocrite,” Fraser told GQ last month.   

Fraser has alleged that a former HFPA president, Philip Berk, sexually assaulted him at an industry event in 2003. Berk denies the incident and has since been expelled from the group for calling Black Lives Matter a “racist hate movement.”   

In response to last year’s controversy, HFPA expanded its voting body to include people with more diverse backgrounds, banned members from accepting gifts, and halted its in-person press conferences with stars, which were often derided for the improper behavior of some members.   

“This is really not the old HFPA anymore,” President Helen Hoehne recently told The Hollywood Reporter.   

“I respect Brendan Fraser’s decision. … And I personally, sincerely hope there’s a way for us to move forward and we are able to regain Mr. Fraser’s trust, along with the trust of the entire entertainment community,” she added.’   

Still, powerful Hollywood publicists remain divided over the Globes, with some expressing skepticism about the reforms — and a reluctance to return to the event with their stars.   

A plan by U.S. billionaire Todd Boehly to spin off the awards show into a for-profit entity and pay salaries to members has raised eyebrows. 

The Golden Globes honor both film and television. Unlike the Oscars, the show divides its movies into “drama” and “comedy or musical” categories — hence boosting the star power by increasing the number of nominees.   

Steven Spielberg’s deeply personal “The Fabelmans” is widely seen as the drama frontrunner.   

Other contenders include Cruise’s long-awaited “Top Gun” sequel, Baz Luhrmann’s rock-and-roll biopic “Elvis,” and “Women Talking,” a book adaptation about sexual abuse in a religious colony.   

“Everything Everywhere All At Once,” Michelle Yeoh’s highly original sci-fi set in a tax office, which became a word-of-mouth hit early in the year, is tipped in the comedy film categories.    

So are star-studded whodunnit sequel “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” and Irish black comedy “The Banshees of Inisherin.” 

Fraser and Austin Butler, the 31-year-old actor who plays Presley in “Elvis,” are expected to land drama acting nominations, as is Cate Blanchett as a ruthless classical conductor in “Tar.” 

On the comedy side, Yeoh and “Banshees” star Colin Farrell are among the favorites.   

“Lopez vs. Lopez” stars George Lopez and Mayan Lopez will present the nominations for the 80th Golden Globes on NBC’s “Today” program from 1335 GMT Monday. 
…

Mohammad Shafi Dar, 55, picks up a piece of willow, called a cleft, and places it on a vertical bandsaw to cut out a V-joint from the wooden block before passing it on to one of his colleagues, Mohammad Yousuf Bhat, 45, for further modification on a mechanical planer.

Both Dar and Bhat are pod-shavers, as the people who make cricket bats are known, for Model Sports Industries, a cricket bat factory, in Bijbehera, a town in the Anantnag district in Indian-administered Kashmir.

Following the footsteps of his father, Dar joined the multimillion-dollar cricket bat industry in the Himalayan region when he was a teenager.

The industry provides income to more than 100,000 people, including migrant workers who come to Kashmir from different parts of India, such as Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Bihar and Jharkhand.

Fear of losing jobs

For the first time in his four-decade career, Dar fears losing his job because of a shortage of willow, the raw material of cricket bats that mainly comes from England and Kashmir.

Trunks of willow trees are first cut into lengths according to the size of the bat to be produced. The trunk sections are later split with the help of a hammer and wedge before being carved into a more familiar cricket bat shape.

“In all these years, I have never felt insecure about losing the job, but in the last couple of years, bat production has decreased gradually, as a result proprietors are firing employees,” Dar told VOA. “Half a dozen men have been removed from their jobs at this workshop,” he said, adding that the situation is similar in many other factories.

Skilled craftsmen who were fired, Dar said, had been making bats for decades.

“A few of the fired pod-shavers went on to become casual laborers, others joined the agriculture sector and the rest became sand diggers,” Dar said. “Not everyone can cross the line from being a skilled craftsman to becoming a casual worker or a farmer,” he said, adding that locals as well as migrant workers are going through tough times.

Behind the materials shortage

All along the national highway connecting the Kashmir valley to the rest of India, 400 factories welcome visitors with willow-clefts piled up on both sides of the road.

Fayaz Ahmad Dar, president of the Kashmir Cricket Bat Manufacturers Union, told VOA the raw materials shortage began five years ago because of accelerated tree cutting and a lack of planting of new willow trees in the region.

“Today we only receive 50% of the supply in our factories,” Dar said. “Our business is on the verge of extinction due to complete negligence,” he added.

Local farmers, Dar said, plant poplar or cottonwood instead of willow because they grow quickly and are in demand by plywood factories, earning them money faster.

“We cannot blame local farmers for not planting willow as it is their own choice,” Dar told VOA. “We expect (the) government to act as soon as possible in order to inject new blood into Kashmir bat industry, as it generates income worth 1 billion rupees [$12.1 million],” he said.

Kashmir willow bats, Dar said, supply nearly 70% of the global market, as they are more affordable than those made from English willow.

“The price of a good quality English willow starts from $300 and can go up to $1,500, but the same quality bats produced locally begin from $50 and vary up to $500,” Dar said.

“Thus, people belonging to cricket-playing nations prefer to buy our bats, thus making Kashmir the largest exporter of cricket bats in the world,” he said, adding that nearly 3 million bats are manufactured in Kashmir annually and are exported to 125 cricket-playing countries.

In a new workshop of GR8 Sports in Anantnag’s Sangam neighborhood, Niaz Ul Kabir, co-owner and production head, ensures each bat is manufactured according to his brand’s standards.

Kabir said GR8 Sports marketing agents approached several international cricketers to test GR8 Sports bats. He said the response from the veteran cricketers spurred them to approach the International Cricket Council, the governing body of international cricket, and get approval so that international cricketers can use their product.

50 out of 400 factories shut

Kashmir cricket bat industry stakeholders have approached the Kashmir government for help, as 50 out of 400 factories have closed workshops because they are out of raw materials.

“We met the honorable director of commerce and Industries of Kashmir and highlighted the issues bat manufacturers are facing,” Dar, the president of Kashmir Cricket Bat Manufacturers, said. “The director was presented with the facts and figures about the growing demands of cricket bats globally following the expansion of the sport from 10 countries to over 100 countries in the last decade,” he added.

The manufacturers, Dar said, want the government to identify multiple locations for the planting of willow trees in Kashmir.

Dar said after the meeting the department, in association with the Faculty of Forest of Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir, distributed 1,500 willow saplings to many bat manufacturers, which he said, “in no way is sufficient meet the requirement.” Dar added that the annual demand of one manufacturer is 10,000 to 15,000 trees.

VOA asked Saloni Rai, director of commerce and industries of Kashmir, for her response to the industry representatives. She said that she “does not currently have enough information regarding the subject and will comment after going through the data thoroughly.”
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As soon as Hansel Emmanuel began to weave in from the right wing, his Northwestern State teammates started to stand up. When he dribbled between two defenders for a stylish layup, most everyone in the gym joined them.

The freshman with one arm was finally on the board.

And a minute later Saturday night, the 198-centimeter-tall guard provided the most defining moment of the game — a thunderous dunk in a 91-73 win over Louisiana-Monroe.

“I had to keep going after the layup — that was my first bucket,” Emmanuel said in a quote posted on the Southland Conference school’s website. “I know my family was proud. I had to keep working. You can’t give up.”

The 19-year-old Emmanuel, who lost his left arm just below his shoulder in a childhood accident, wound up scoring five points. He was 2 of 3 from the field and 1 of 5 from the foul line, along with two rebounds in eight minutes.

Emmanuel had played in four previous games for the Demons this season, shooting 0 for 2 with one rebound.

Born in the Dominican Republic, Emmanuel was 6 when a pile of cinderblocks fell on him. The damage was so severe, doctors had to amputate his arm.

Emmanuel later moved to Florida and became a big scorer in high school. He drew interest from Memphis, among other colleges, and became an internet sensation last year for his highlight videos posted to social media.

The Demons (8-2) were well on the way to their seventh straight win when Emmanuel started to drive toward his first points. He smoothly cut to the hoop for his layup with 2 1/2 minutes left.

With slightly over a minute to go, Emmanuel was fouled and made the first free throw. He missed the second shot but corralled a loose ball just beyond the foul line, took one dribble and threw down a high-flying dunk.

The slam made it 89-70 and brought Emmanuel’s teammates and the crowd of 1,627 to their feet again for an even longer cheer. 
…

An emerald inscribed for a Mughal emperor. A Safavid-period knotted wool carpet. An Ottoman-era curtain, intricately embroidered with metal threads, which was part of the covering of the Kaaba, the cube-shaped structure in Mecca that Muslims consider the metaphorical “house of God.”

Like tiles in a mosaic, the collection in Doha’s Museum of Islamic Art, or MIA, provides visitors with a peek into diverse aspects of Muslim heritage, art and craftmanship with items spanning three continents and many centuries.

In a capital where so much is new, the museum showcases a variety of the old and historic. And with soccer fans from around the world descending on Qatar, the story that the museum tells now has a bigger audience.

On a recent day, visitors — some wearing soccer jerseys or scarves — stopped to snap photos, inspect objects, read labels or browse shelves lined with books and souvenirs.

“The architecture itself is very good. Also, I like the inside displays; the pieces are very impressive,” said Bert Liu, who lives in the United States. “Before I knew very little about Islamic history but after I saw a lot of objects, I feel I learned more.”

Qatari officials say they hope the tournament will help provide visitors with a better understanding of their culture and that of the larger region. The World Cup host has faced intense criticism over rights issues, including the treatment of migrant workers, and accusations of “sports-washing” or attempting to use the event’s prestige to remake its image.

Qatari officials have argued that the country’s progress and achievements are being overlooked. The ruling emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, said some of the attacks on the first Arab and Muslim country to host the World Cup included “fabrications and double standards.”

Sports is not the only area where Qatar, a small country with big ambitions and the vast wealth to match, has sought to leave its mark as part of a quest for global influence. It has also been aiming to carve out a name in the culture and arts arenas, including with museums like MIA.

“Qatar has invested much in terms of establishing itself as a Middle Eastern hub for culture and art with soft-power aspirations being a key factor driving these efforts,” said Giorgio Cafiero, CEO of Gulf State Analytics, a geopolitical risk consultancy based in Washington, D.C. “Museums in Doha have done much to help the Qataris promote their culture, tell their stories, and share their unique perspectives with global audiences.”

And now, he noted, many soccer fans may be visiting the region for the first time.

Qatar is far from alone in such grand, well-financed cultural endeavors, with other Gulf countries also vying for tourists as they strive to diversify their economies.

“We have the ambition to show Islamic culture in all its diversity and sort of also show the regional differences,” said Julia Gonnella, MIA’s director. “The idea is really for education, for diversity, also to build up a society beyond oil and gas.”

The museum attracts both Muslim and non-Muslim visitors, she said, adding that MIA’s “first audience” is the people who live in Qatar.

Designed by renowned architect I.M. Pei, the MIA complex has a presence that is somehow both imposing and simple, with its waterfront location, light-colored exteriors and sharp and clean architectural lines. Geometric shapes and Islamic motifs appear inside. Windows drench the surrounding area in sunlight and provide a view of modern-looking buildings jutting into the sky across the water.

The museum’s collection includes metalwork, ceramics, woodwork and textiles. Items on display include jewelry, manuscripts of the Quran, the Muslim holy book, armor and arms.

Gabriel Petersen, who visited from Australia, said he was impressed by how old some of the objects were and enjoyed seeing exhibits from different parts of the world.

“It’s just a different culture,” he said. “You don’t get much of that in Australia.”

The museum also offers glimpses into religious beliefs and rituals. Visitors can read about the five pillars of Islam — the profession of faith, prayer, almsgiving, fasting and hajj or pilgrimage — or learn about hajj rituals and different funerary practices in the Islamic world.

Initially opened in 2008, the museum closed in April 2021 and reopened a month before the World Cup with expanded interpretive materials to help provide more context for items on display.

A temporary exhibition titled Baghdad: Eye’s Delight celebrates the capital of Iraq as one of the “most important and influential cities in the Islamic world” and highlights its role as a city “of power, scholarship, and riches,” according to the museum. The exhibition features objects on loan from world-renowned institutions, MIA says.

Rob Humphreys, who was visiting from Wales, said he particularly enjoyed viewing Baghdad from a different angle.

“At least in Europe, we tend to associate Baghdad with … war and so on and the invasion,” he said. “Learning about how important Baghdad was as a cultural and scientific and trading city … was really interesting.”

Catrin Evans, his wife, admired the quality of craftmanship dating back centuries in MIA’s collection and thought the calligraphy, jewelry and copies of the Quran were “awe inspiring.”

“We tend to think of everything in a European, Western perspective,” she said. “This definitely opened my eyes to the background to Islam and also the culture here.”

At one point, the couple thought of not coming to Qatar for the World Cup because of misgivings over rights’ issues, including those of LGBTQ people.

“We’ve come to learn, but it doesn’t mean we put our values to one side while we’re here,” Humphreys said, adding cultural exchanges are also important to them.

“Museums are always good places for generating new ideas, often controversial,” he said. “But it’s a space to express those and explore them and talk and have a dialogue.” 
…

U.S. professional basketball star Brittney Griner has arrived in the southwestern U.S. state of Texas after a high-stakes prisoner swap that saw notorious Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout returned to Moscow.

Griner was flown to San Antonio and reunited with her family.

She was then taken to Brooke Army Medical Center for a medical checkup. A spokesperson for Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston said that is standard protocol.

“The U.S. government is focused on ensuring that Brittney Griner and her family’s well-being are prioritized and that all assistance available be offered in an appropriate manner,” Robert Whetstone said.

Griner would be given “all the access she needs to health care workers just to make sure that she is OK,” John Kirby, National Security Council spokesperson, told NBC on Friday, adding that Griner was in “very good spirits when she got off the plane and appeared to be obviously in good health.”

The actual exchange took place in the United Arab Emirates, where Griner and Bout crossed paths on the runway, heading to their flights home.

U.S. President Joe Biden, who had long pressed the Russian government to free Griner, officially announced her release Thursday.

“She represents the best of America,” Biden said at the White House, noting that Griner would be back in the United States within 24 hours.

“I spoke with Brittney Griner,” Biden said. “After months of being unjustly detained in Russia, held under intolerable circumstances, Brittney will soon be back in the arms of her loved ones, and she should have been there all along.”

Griner’s wife, Cherelle Griner, thanked Biden and an array of U.S. officials for their efforts in freeing her spouse after nine months of imprisonment. Cherelle Griner said that she and Brittney Griner would continue their support for the release of Paul Whelan, an American held in Russia who was not included in Thursday’s deal.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken told a news conference, “This was not a choice of which American to bring home. The choice was one or none. I wish we could have brought Paul Whelan on the same plane as Brittney.”

Griner, 32, was detained at a Moscow airport in February when she arrived in Russia with vape canisters containing cannabis oil in her luggage. The Women’s National Basketball Association star had gone to Russia to play for a Russian team during her off-season in the U.S., but instead was convicted on the drug charge after a brief trial, sentenced to nine years of imprisonment, and recently sent to a Russian penal colony.

Even as the U.S. has led the Western coalition of countries supplying munitions to Ukraine in its 10-month fight against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion, the two countries held behind-the-scenes talks about the release of the two prisoners.

In the end, Whelan, a 52-year-old Michigan corporate security executive imprisoned in Russia since December 2018 on espionage charges that his family and the U.S. government has said are baseless, was left out of the deal.

“Sadly, and for totally illegitimate reasons, Russia is treating Paul’s case differently than Brittney’s,” Biden said. “And while we have not yet succeeded in securing Paul’s release, we are not giving up. We will never give up.”

Biden told Whelan’s family, “We will keep negotiating in good faith. I guarantee it.”

Bout, 55, had served 15 years of a 26-year prison sentence in the U.S. and was once nicknamed “the Merchant of Death.” The Kremlin had long sought his release.

Some information in this report came from Agence France-Presse and The Associated Press.
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