Arts

American author George Saunders won the prestigious Man Booker Prize for fiction Tuesday for Lincoln in the Bardo, a polyphonic symphony of a novel about restless souls adrift in the afterlife.

It is the second year in a row an American has won the 50,000 pound ($66,000) prize, which was opened to U.S. authors in 2014.

The book is based on a real visit President Abraham Lincoln made in 1862 to the body of his 11-year-old son Willie at a Washington cemetery. It is narrated by a chorus of characters who are all dead, but unwilling or unable to let go of life.

By turns witty, bawdy, poetic and unsettling, Lincoln in the Bardo juxtaposes the real events of the U.S. Civil War — through passages from historians both real and fictional — with a chorus of otherworldly characters male and female, young and old. In Tibetan Buddhism, the bardo is the transition state between death and rebirth.

Baroness Lola Young, who chaired the Booker judging panel, said the novel “stood out because of its innovation, its very different styling, the way in which it paradoxically brought to life these almost-dead souls.”

Saunders was awarded the prize by Prince Charles’ wife, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, during a ceremony at London’s medieval Guildhall.

Accepting his trophy, Saunders said the book’s style may be complex, but the question he posed at its heart was simple: Do we respond to uncertain times with fear and division, “or do we take that ancient great leap of faith and try to respond with love?”

The author said he resisted telling the story of Lincoln, an American icon, for 20 years. But the novel, which took four years to write, turned out to be pointedly timely at a divided time for the United States.

Saunders said Lincoln had “a quiet, confident generosity of spirit.”

“He underwent, I think, a kind of spiritual growth spurt that we don’t see very often,” outgrowing the “lazy, racist attitudes” he was raised with, the author said.

“His compassion and his heart kept growing out even as his own life was becoming more and more difficult,” Saunders said.

“Contrast that with the current administration that seems intent on shrinking the commonwealth of compassion until we can only care about people who are exactly like us. It’s a complete eradication of the American ideal.”

Lincoln in the Bardo is the first novel by the 58-year-old Saunders, an acclaimed short story writer who won the Folio Prize in 2014 for his darkly funny story collection Tenth of December.

A former oil industry engineer who teaches creative writing at Syracuse University in New York state, Saunders is probably best known outside literary circles for a commencement speech he gave in 2013 with the key message “Try to be kinder.” It went viral on the internet, became an animated cartoon and was published as a book.

Booker finalists

He had been bookies’ favorite to win the Man Booker, which usually brings the winning novelist a huge boost in sales and profile.

Saunders beat five other finalists: New Yorker Paul Auster’s quadruple coming-of-age story 4321; U.S. writer Emily Fridlund’s story of a Midwest teenager, History of Wolves; Scottish author Ali Smith’s Brexit-themed Autumn; British-Pakistani novelist Mohsin Hamid’s migration story Exit West; and British writer Fiona Mozley’s debut novel Elmet about a fiercely independent family under threat.

Saunders is the second American in a row to win the prize, founded in 1969 and until 2013 limited to writers from Britain, Ireland and the Commonwealth. The 2016 winner was Paul Beatty’s The Sellout.

The move to admit all English-language writers spurred fears among some British writers and publishers that Americans would come to dominate a prize whose previous winners include Salman Rushdie, Ben Okri, Margaret Atwood and Hilary Mantel.

Young said the judges “don’t look at the nationality of the writer. I can say that hand on heart — it’s not an issue for us. The sole concern is the book.”

Prize organizers said 30 percent of the 144 books submitted by publishers for consideration this year were American, a figure slightly down from last year.

Young said the five jurors met for almost five hours Tuesday to choose the winner, finally agreeing unanimously on Saunders.

“I’m not going to pretend it was easy,” she said. “We didn’t have any major meltdowns at all. But we did have quite fierce debates.”
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In the past 24 hours, thousands of women have taken to Twitter and Facebook, sharing their personal stories of sexual harassment and assault under the hashtag ‘Me Too.’ The social media rallying cry comes in the wake of numerous allegations of sexual misconduct by Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. VOA’s Elizabeth Cherneff looks at how this latest social media movement has sparked a global conversation amongst women and men about sexual harassment and assault.
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Jerusalem is one of the most excavated cities in the world, and archaeologists have uncovered 7000 year old stone houses, an Egyptian amulet bearing the name of Thutmose III, and what could be the world’s first landfill. Monday, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced finding the first known Roman-era theatre in Jerusalem’s Old City, a unique 1,800-year-old structure next to the Western Wall. Faith Lapidus has details.
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“Human Flow” by internationally acclaimed artist and activist Ai Weiwei, highlights the plight of refugees around the world. The Chinese dissident is not the first to make a documentary about the displaced, but his film captures the massive flow of humanity on our planet from on high, using drones. Ai filmed in 23 different countries in 40 different refugee camps people fleeing war, environmental crises and religious persecution. VOA’s Penelope Poulou spoke with the artist.
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In the wake of sexual abuse allegations against Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein, tens of thousands of women are identifying themselves as victims of sexual harassment or assault.

Women and some men shared their stories on social media under the hashtag #MeToo after actress Alyssa Milano posted a message Sunday on Twitter that said, “If you’ve been sexually harassed or assaulted write ‘Me too’ as a reply to this tweet, we might give people a sense of the magnitude of the problem.”

By mid-day Monday, the hashtag had been retweeted more than a million times, a Twitter spokesman told Hollywood Reporter. Among those who weighed in were Lady Gaga, Monica Lewinsky, Rosario Dawson and Senator Elizabeth Warren.

“Being raped once made it easier to be raped again. I instinctually shut down. My body remembered, so it protected me. I disappeared. #metoo,” actress Evan Rachel Wood wrote as part of a series of tweets on her experience.

Hamilton star Javier Munoz tweeted, “Me too. I don’t know if it means anything coming from a gay man but it’s happened. Multiple times.”

Milano’s former co-star on TV’s Charmed, Rose McGowan, tweeted in support of the campaign. McGowan had her Twitter account suspended after she accused Weinstein of raping her.

McGowan’s account was reinstated after the hashtag #WomenBoycottTwitter began trending.

A similar social media campaign is playing out on Instagram among models who are sharing stories of abuse and harassment in the fashion industry.

Model Cameron Russell put out a post four days ago offering help to models and has been deluged with responses.

That effort has launched the hashtag #MyJobShouldNotIncludeAbuse.

Early last week, Weinstein was fired by the board of his production company, the Weinstein Co., following an explosive New York Times report just days earlier, in which 13 women accused him of sexually harassing or assaulting them.

In another report in The New Yorker, three women accused Weinstein of raping them.
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The Weinstein Co., mired in a sex scandal, may be putting itself up for sale.

The company said Monday that it is getting an immediate cash infusion from Colony Capital and is in negotiations for the potential sale of all or a significant portion of the movie studio responsible for films like “Shakespeare in Love,” and “Gangs of New York.”

Co-founder Harvey Weinstein was fired by the company last week following allegations of sexual harassment and assault. The allegations span decades.

The fallout has been swift, with Weinstein issuing a lengthy and seemingly tone-deaf apology while losing various honors. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has revoked his membership.
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British singer Ed Sheeran has told fans via Instagram that he’s had a bicycle injury and may have to change some concert dates.

The popular singer said Monday he’s had “a bit of a bicycle accident” and is “currently waiting on some medical advice, which may affect some of my upcoming shows.”

 

Sheeran is scheduled to perform a series of shows in Asia starting on Oct. 22.

 

He asks fans to “stay tuned” for further news.

 

The Instagram post showed a photograph of his tattooed arm in a cast.
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Thousands of women are responding to actress Alyssa Milano’s call to tweet “me too” to raise awareness of sexual harassment and assault following the recent revelation of decades of allegations of sexual misconduct by movie mogul Harvey Weinstein.

Milano suggested women who have been sexually harassed or assaulted post the message on Twitter on Sunday. The call to action quickly trended, with notable names like Lady Gaga, Monica Lewinsky and Rosario Dawson identifying themselves as victims. Others shared personal stories.

 

Also tweeting in support was Milano’s former co-star on TV’s “Charmed,” Rose McGowan, who has accused Weinstein of raping her.

 

Milano called the Weinstein allegations “disturbing” in an essay last week, but added that the issue was complicated for her because she is friends with Weinstein’s wife, Georgina Chapman.

 

 
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The Smithsonian Institution’s Freer and Sackler museums of Asian art reopened Oct. 15, after being closed for renovations.  The IlluminAsia Festival was a celebration of the reopening featuring art, food and performances.
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There is more trouble for disgraced U.S. movie mogul Harvey Weinstein.

French President Emmanuel Macron said Sunday he has started the process to strip Weinstein of the Legion of Honor — the highest honor in France and one of the world’s most prestigious awards.

France presented Weinstein the honor in 2012 in recognition of his efforts to promote French and other European cinema around the world.

Four French actresses are among the 13 who accuse Weinstein of sexually assaulting or harassing them over several decades.

This latest blow against Weinstein came a day after the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which hands out the Oscars, voted to “immediately expel” Weinstein from the academy.

The vote by the 54 member Board of Governors was overwhelming, saying it wants “to send a message that the era of willful ignorance and shameful complicity in sexually predatory behavior and workplace harassment in our industry is over.”

It called the allegations that Weinstein traded professional favors for sexual ones “a deeply troubling problem that has no place in our society.”

The British film academy suspended Weinstein’s membership last week.

Weinstein was fired by the board of his production company, the Weinstein Co., following an explosive New York Times report just days earlier, in which 13 women accused him of sexually harassing or assaulting them.

History of transgressions

At least three women accuse him of rape. Among the actresses who have leveled accusations of sex abuse against Weinstein are such major stars as Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow and Rosanna Arquette.

The New Yorker magazine reports 16 current and former employees The Weinstein Co. and Miramax, which Weinstein co-founded with his brother Bob, either witnessed of knew of Weinstein’s sexual abuse. According to the report, all of those employees said Weinstein’s sexual deviancy was widely known within the two companies.

The 65-year-old Weinstein oversaw production of many popular films over the past 30 years, including Shakespeare in Love, Pulp Fiction, Sex, Lies and Videotape, The English Patient, Good Will Hunting and The Butler.

Weinstein said in a statement “the way I’ve behaved with colleagues in the past has caused a lot of pain, and I sincerely apologize for it.” Later, he claimed some of accusations reported in the media were false and said he would sue for defamation.

Weinstein has been a big donor in recent years to Democratic politicians in the U.S., including twice-failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. But with the sexual harassment revelations, Democratic political figures scrambled over the weekend to distance themselves from the disgraced filmmaker.

Several Democrat politicians, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senator Elizabeth Warren, have promised to donate money they received from Weinstein to charities supporting women.
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Innsbruck no longer plans to bid for the 2026 Winter Olympics after its promise to organize low-cost and sustainable games failed to convince residents.

 

The province of Tyrol said Sunday it will drop plans to host the games after 53.35 percent of voters had rejected the idea in a referendum. In Innsbruck, the capital of the province, 67.41 percent of residents said “no” to a possible bid.

 

Results from postal voting will be announced Monday but were not expected to significantly change the outcome.

 

“The decision stands,” Tyrol governor Guenther Platter said. “I was, and still am convinced that our offer for re-dimensioned games would have been a chance, not only for Tyrol but also for the Olympic movement.”

 

A feasibility study presented in June suggested Innsbruck could host the games on a budget of 1.175 billion euros ($1.3 billion).

 

The host city would have avoided building new permanent infrastructure with sports being spread over existing venues in the Tyrol region as well as in southern Germany and northern Italy. The Alpine skiing events would have taken place in St. Anton, biathlon in Hochfilzen, Nordic combined in Seefeld, hockey in Bolzano, Italy, and ice skating in Inzell, Germany.

IOC reform program dealt blow

Also, the concept refrained from building a central Olympic Village as athletes would have been located close to their respective venues.

 

In sharp contrast to the overall outcome, residents in St. Anton (85.12 percent), Hochfilzen (80.71) and Seefeld (65.40) easily voted in favor of a possible bid.

 

The rejection deals a blow to the International Olympic Committee as Innsbruck’s plans closely followed the guidelines of Agenda 2020, the IOC’s reform program that allows more flexibility in hosting the games, including the possibility of using venues in other cities, and even in neighboring countries.

 

Peter Mennel, general secretary of the Austrian Olympic Committee, said he was “personally disappointed.”

 

“We have been fighting hard for this chance over the last couple of months because we are convinced that the time was right for this low-key bid by Tyrol,” Mennel said.

 

After Innsbruck hosted the Winter Games in 1964 and again in 1976, its residents have voted against another bid two times before, in 1993 and again in 1997. Since then, Austria had several failed bids, most recently with Salzburg for the 2014 Games.

 

In 2013, the last time Austrian citizens were asked about hosting Olympics, Vienna had to drop plans to bid for the 2028 Summer Games after more than 70 percent of its residents rejected the idea.

 

The formal bidding process for the 2026 Olympics will start next year with the hosting rights to be awarded in July 2019.
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In a squat, nondescript brick building on a residential street in Staunton, Virginia, something new is being cooked up. With nary a single Michelin star to its name, and an exterior facade befitting a local hardware store, Chef Ian Boden’s “The Shack” is nonetheless packed with customers, some of whom drove hours to get there. VOA’s Karina Bafradzhian heads deep into the sticks to find out why.
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The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which organizes the Oscars, has ruled it will expel the powerful Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein over allegations of sexual abuse.

The 54-member Board of Governors met Saturday to discuss the allegations and voted overwhelmingly to “immediately expel” the mogul famous for his ability to push small, well-made pictures into the Oscars race.

In a statement, the board said the decision to oust Weinstein was “well in excess of the required two-thirds majority.” It also said the expulsion was made “to send a message that the era of willful ignorance and shameful complicity in sexually predatory behavior and workplace harassment in our industry is over.”

It called the allegations that Weinstein traded professional favors for sexual ones “a deeply troubling problem that has no place in our society.”

WATCH: Observers Looking to Hollywood to Take Lead on Sexual Harassment

​Allegations

Weinstein’s expulsion comes after allegations emerged that Weinstein sexually harassed or assaulted a number of women over the past three decades.

Earlier this week, the British film academy said Weinstein’s membership in the organization had been “suspended, effective immediately.”

Weinstein was fired Monday by the board of his production company, the Weinstein Co., following an explosive New York Times report just days earlier, in which 13 women accused him of sexually harassing or assaulting them.

On Wednesday, French actress Lea Seydoux and model and actress Cara Delevingne joined the fast-growing list of Weinstein accusers.

Meanwhile, celebrity news website TMZ reported that Weinstein’s daughter called 911 Wednesday morning to say her dad was suicidal.

When officers responded to the call, Weinstein’s daughter Remy, told them no suicidal statements were made, and it was purely a family dispute. TMZ also reports Weinstein planned to leave the country for a rehab center sometime later that day.

New Yorker interview

On Tuesday, another report from The New Yorker emerged, in which three women accused Weinstein of raping them. Actresses Asia Argento and Lucia Evans went on the record in The New Yorker story to accuse Weinstein of raping them, while another woman chose to remain anonymous.

Among the accusers are some of Hollywood’s top stars, including Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow and Rosanna Arquette.

​The New Yorker story said 16 current and former employees at The Weinstein Co. and Miramax, which Weinstein co-founded with his brother Bob, either witnessed or knew of Weinstein’s sexual abuse. According to the report, all of those employees said Weinstein’s sexual deviancy was widely known within the two companies.

The 65-year-old Weinstein oversaw production of many popular films over the past 30 years, including Shakespeare in Love, Pulp Fiction, Sex, Lies and Videotape, The English Patient, Good Will Hunting and The Butler. He ran Miramax and later the Weinstein movie companies with Bob Weinstein.

Weinstein’s fall came quickly after the Times report Oct. 5 of his unwanted sexual advances that stretched over nearly 30 years. The story said Weinstein, who is known in Hollywood for his demanding control of film productions and angry outbursts, had paid confidential settlements to his female accusers.

In a statement last week, Weinstein said, “The way I’ve behaved with colleagues in the past has caused a lot of pain, and I sincerely apologize for it.” Later, he claimed some of the newspaper’s claims were false and said he would sue for defamation.

​Politics

Weinstein has been a big donor in recent years to Democratic politicians in the U.S., including twice-failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. But with the sexual harassment revelations, Democratic political figures scrambled over the weekend to distance themselves from the disgraced filmmaker.

Several Democrat politicians, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senator Elizabeth Warren, have promised to donate money they received from Weinstein to charities supporting women.

Clinton broke her silence on the matter earlier this week, saying she was “shocked and appalled by the revelations about Harvey Weinstein.” She addedin a statement, “The behavior described by women coming forward cannot be tolerated.”

“Any man who demeans and degrades women in such fashion needs to be condemned and held accountable, regardless of wealth or status,” former President Barack Obama said in a statement Tuesday. “We should celebrate the courage of women who have come forward to tell these painful stories.”

President Donald Trump said over the weekend he’s “known Harvey Weinstein for a long time” and he is “not at all surprised” by the sexual abuse allegations.

Matt Damon’s first film, Good Will Hunting, won him his first Oscar after Weinstein took a chance on a script from Damon and fellow unknown, Ben Affleck.

“We know this stuff goes on in the world. I did five or six movies with Harvey. I never saw this,” Damon told CNN’s Deadline in an interview published Tuesday.

He added later in the interview: “This morning, I just feel absolutely sick to my stomach.”
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The United States’ National Portrait Gallery has announced that two up-and-coming African-American artists, Kehinde Wiley and Amy Sherald, have been selected to paint the official portraits of former President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama.

The Smithsonian Institution, parent organization of the National Portrait Gallery, said Friday that President Obama had specifically requested to be painted by Wiley, 40, whose portraits of young black men have made a sharp impact on the art world.

Wiley places his young models in poses reminiscent of famous court painters of previous centuries, such as Diego Velazquez, Peter Paul Rubens, and Hans Holbein. He paints many of his subjects larger than life, using gauzy realism and vivid colors to arrest the viewer’s attention.

Wiley, born in Los Angeles, California, has been considered a successful artist for more than a decade.

His images replace the white subjects of his forbears with handsome young African-American men and women in front of decorative backdrops that resemble wallpaper. Some of the backdrops contain designs that overlap the figure in the portrait, raising questions about whether the subject has power over his environment or is trapped by it.

​Some of Wiley’s subjects are famous, such as rapper-turned-actor LL Cool J, whose portrait shows him seated, larger than life, coolly aloof as he gazes down on his audience in front of a vibrant red and green damask pattern.

In recent years Wiley has conducted what he calls his World Stage project, painting subjects from a variety of far-flung places, such as China, Jamaica, Haiti, Sri Lanka and Brazil. His paintings place people of color in settings where they radiate power, beauty and grace equal to the light-skinned subjects who for centuries were the focus of similar portraits.

First lady’​s portrait

Michelle Obama chose Sherald, winner of the National Portrait Gallery’s annual portraiture competition in 2016, to paint her portrait as first lady.

Sherald is a 44-year-old African-American woman from Baltimore, Maryland, scene of protests in 2015 over the death while in police custody of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old African-American man.

With racial tensions still running high in her hometown, Sherald’s portraits, like Wiley’s, focus on her African-American subjects in a way that emphasizes grace, dignity and each person’s unique features.

Sherald’s work is full of poised energy. Some of her images look almost flat, like cutouts, but the faces and bodies of her subjects look as though they were asked to stop and pose in the middle of a movement, a thought or a breath.

The painting for which Sherald won the National Portrait Gallery is called “Miss Everything (Unsuppressed Deliverance)” and features a young black woman dressed in a navy blue dress, white gloves and a striking red hat, holding an oversized white teacup and saucer. The subject looks graceful and relaxed while her eyes bore into the viewer in an unspoken challenge.

The work of both artists examines and challenges ideas about black identity, a prominent concept in the legacy of the nation’s first African-American presidential couple.

National Portrait Gallery

The National Portrait Gallery and the White House work together at the conclusion of each presidency to commission two official sets of portraits, with one set for display at the White House and one at the National Portrait Gallery. Both collections are in Washington, D.C.

In a statement Friday, Director Kim Sajet said the National Portrait Gallery “is absolutely delighted that Kehinde Wiley and Amy Sherald have agreed to create the official portraits of our former president and first lady.”

Sajet noted that both artists have been very successful, but more importantly, she said, “they make art that reflects the power and potential of portraiture in the 21st century.”

The portraits are expected to be unveiled in early 2018.
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The impoverished family of Australia’s most famous Aboriginal artist, Albert Namatjira, has been given copyright to his works after years of fruitless campaigning triggered the intervention of a philanthropist.

Namatjira’s vibrant water colors are internationally celebrated for the way he captured the hues of the Western Desert in the center of the country.

One of his paintings was given to Britain’s Queen Elizabeth in 1947 on her 21st birthday, and he met the queen during her 1954 coronation tour in Canberra.

Dick Smith, the Australian businessman whose intervention secured the agreement, told Reuters it was the most satisfying philanthropic thing he had done.

“It’s a just cause,” Smith told Reuters Saturday.

Rights sold, lost

Born in 1902 in Hermannsburg, a remote Aboriginal community in central Australia’s West MacDonnell ranges, Albert Namatjira rose to prominence as the first Aboriginal artist to master a Western tradition.

In 1957, he sold partial copyright for his works to a friend, John Brackenreg.

Two years later, Namatjira died and his will passed the copyright remainder to his widow, Robina, and their children. This gave his family a source of royalty income when reproductions of the images were used.

However, his estate executors gave the administration of his will to the public trustee of the state of the Northern Territory, which sold the copyright to Brackenreg’s company, Legend Press, in 1983 without consulting the family, ABC News reported.

All royalty payments to Namatjira’s descendents ceased, and when Brackenreg died, he passed copyright to his children.

Campaign begins

Eight years ago, arts organization Big hART, began campaigning for the return of the copyright.

They put together a theater show called Namatjira, which toured Australia for three years before traveling to London where in 2013 Queen Elizabeth met two of Namatjira’s grandchildren.

News reports caught the eye of Smith, whose father once worked for Brackenreg. Smith persuaded Brackenreg’s children to give copyright to the Namatjira Legacy Trust, which represents the family, for A$1 on Friday. Smith also donated A$250,000 ($197,200) to the trust.

It is the latest in Smith’s long list of charitable acts, which included contributing to the ransom that freed Canadian journalist Amanda Lindhout and Australian photographer Nigel Brennan, taken hostage in Somalia in 2008.

Sophia Marinos, the chair of the Namatjira Legacy Trust, said the money would benefit the whole Aboriginal community with funds for language and cultural programs.
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Harvey Weinstein, one of Hollywood’s most powerful men, is now disgraced and may eventually face criminal charges involving decades of alleged sexual harassment. Weinstein’s studio has put out blockbuster movies such as “Gangs of New York,” “Pulp Fiction” and “The King’s Speech.” VOA’s Carolyn Presutti takes a look at whether the conversation on unwanted sexual advances is changing in the United States and how that affects the issue globally.
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UNESCO’s executive board voted Friday to make a former French government minister the U.N. cultural agency’s next chief after an unusually heated election that was overshadowed by Middle East tensions.

The board’s selection of Audrey Azoulay over a Qatari candidate came the day after the United States announced that it intends to pull out of UNESCO because of its alleged anti-Israel bias.

The news rocked a weeklong election already marked by geopolitical resentments, concerns about the Paris-based agency’s dwindling funding and questions about its future purpose.

 

If confirmed by UNESCO’s general assembly next assembly next month, Azoulay will succeed outgoing Director-General Irina Bokova of Bulgaria, whose eight-year term was marred by financial woes and criticism over Palestine’s inclusion in 2011 as a member state.

 

Azoulay narrowly beat Qatar’s Hamad bin Abdulaziz al-Kawari in the final 30-28 vote after she won a runoff with a third finalist from Egypt earlier Friday. The outcome was a blow for Arab states that have long wanted to lead the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

 

UNESCO has had European, Asian, African and American chiefs, but never one from an Arab country.

In brief remarks after she won the election, Azoulay, 45, said the response to UNESCO’s problems should be to reform the agency, not to walk away from it.

“In this moment of crisis, I believe we must invest in UNESCO more than ever, look to support and reinforce it, and to reform it. And not leave it,” she said.

The new director will set priorities for the organization best known for its World Heritage program to protect cultural sites and traditions. The agency also works to improve education for girls, promote an understanding of the Holocaust’s horrors, defend media freedom and coordinate science on climate change.

The next leader also will have to contend with the withdrawal of both the U.S. and Israel, which applauded its ally for defending it and said Thursday that it also would be leaving UNESCO.

 

The election itself had become highly politicized even before the U.S. announced its planned departure.

 

Azoulay started the week with much less support than Qatar’s al-Kawari but built up backing as other candidates dropped out. She went on to win a runoff with a third finalist, Moushira Khattab of Egypt. Egypt’s foreign ministry has demanded an inquiry into alleged “violations” during the voting.

 

Jewish groups opposed al-Kawari, citing a preface he wrote to a 2013 Arabic book called “Jerusalem in the Eyes of the Poets” that they claimed was anti-Semitic. He wrote, “We pray to God to liberate (Jerusalem) from captivity and we pray to God to give Muslims the honor of liberating it.”

In March, the Simon Wiesenthal Center wrote an open letter to German Ambassador Michael Worbs, chair of the UNESCO Executive Board, to criticize the organization for accepting the former Qatari culture minister’s candidacy.

During the months leading up to the election, Egypt and three other Arab nations were engaged in a boycott of Qatar over allegations that the government funds extremists and has overly warm ties to Iran.

French media reported that Qatar recently invited several members of the UNESCO executive board on an all-expenses-paid trip to the country’s capital, Doha.

 

Azoulay’s late entry into the leadership race in March also annoyed many UNESCO member states that argued that France shouldn’t field a candidate since it hosts the agency. Arab intellectuals urged French President Emmanuel Macron to withdraw his support for her.

She will be UNESCO’s second female chief and its second French chief after Rene Maheu, UNESCO’s director general from 1961-74. While she is Jewish, her father is Moroccan and was an influential adviser to Moroccan kings, so she also has a connection to the Arab world.

The Trump administration had been preparing for a likely withdrawal from UNESCO for months, but the timing of the State Department’s announcement that it would leave at the end of 2018 was unexpected. Along with hostility to Israel, the U.S. cited “the need for fundamental reform in the organization.”

The outgoing Bokova expressed “profound regret” at the U.S. decision and defended UNESCO’s reputation.

 

The U.S. stopped funding UNESCO after it voted to include Palestine as a member state in 2011, but the State Department has maintained a UNESCO office and sought to weigh in on policy behind the scenes. UNESCO says the U.S. now owes about $550 million in back payments.

Azoulay acknowledged the image of the organization — founded after World War II to foster peace, but marred by infighting between Arab member states and Israel and its allies — needed rebuilding.

“The first thing I will do will be to focus on restoring its credibility,” she said.

While UNESCO’s general assembly must sign off month on the executive board’s leadership pick, but officials said the confirmation vote typically is a formality.
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In an exclusive interview with VOA, the secretary-general of FIFA, Fatma Samoura, talks about preparations for the 2018 World Cup in Russia and on the reform process within the International Federation of Football.

FIFA, football’s governing world body, has been mired in claims of corruption since 2015, when the U.S. Justice Department indicted several top executives, including President Sepp Blattner.

The FBI began investigating FIFA after the world body awarded the 2018 World Cup to Russia and the 2022 World Cup to Qatar, two countries that have come under widespread criticism for their human rights records. The interview is translated from French.

The Confederations Cup, which took place in Russia, was a rehearsal of the 2018 World Cup. Is Russia now ready?

Samoura: “We have every reason to think that it will be ready and that it will offer a fantastic World Cup in 2018. At the Confederations Cup, we saw a fascination from the spectators, no reproaches from the media and from the very well-received teams.

The focus is now on the eight stadiums that are not yet inaugurated. There are stadiums still under construction and hotels but it is not new …  We have no worries.”

Will Qatar be ready in time for 2022? Is the embargo of neighboring countries worrying you?

Samoura: “The preparations are well advanced since the appointment of 2010. They have 12 years to be ready. The al-Khalifa stadium has already been inaugurated last year and other stadiums are under construction.

“The competition will be compact, where fans will have the opportunity to see several matches per day since all the stadiums are located within a radius of 60 kilometers (37 miles). This World Cup will take place in winter for obvious reasons of high heat in the countries of the Gulf.

“In terms of the diplomatic crisis, things are progressing well and efforts are under way. Five years from the competition, we have no reason to believe that the geopolitical situation will be the same in 2022.”

When current FIFA President Gianni Infantino talks about a more transparent allocation process for 2026, what is it?

Samoura: “We are following the recommendations of the John Ruggie report on human rights, transparency and better governance of football. We consulted extensively with the Human Rights Advisory Board; confederations and football have a more lasting legacy of the world’s cuts to future generations.”

Morocco will face the United States, Mexico and Canada for the hosting of the 2026 World Cup. What is your opinion on that?

Samoura: “The best wins! The decision will be made in June 2018.”

A year ago, in our previous interview, you said that there was a need for “transparent management of resources, people and infrastructure” at FIFA. Did you succeed in your ambition?

Samoura: “It’s a job that’s not done in a day. I’ve been here for less than a year-and-a-half, and the bet of diversity has been won. We are now seven women on the FIFA Council. There was only one before my arrival.

“On management, we now have eight people who are in charge of compliance with the monitoring and use of the funds allocated by FIFA to the 211 federations and the six confederations. In the past, some 40 federations have been audited by FIFA, and we are currently at 76. The aim is to achieve 100 in the near future, which is a more rigorous and strict follow-up.”

What is the financial health of FIFA? Should we worry about deficits?

Samoura: “Our financial situation is superb despite a deficit of $369 million for 2016 fiscal year. We are working on four-year cycles and still expect a profit of $100 million at the end of this cycle. In the first three years, we finance competitions and operations, and the generation of resources and revenues is linked to the kick-off of the World Cup.

“We have reserves of more than one billion Swiss francs, which can be used, but it is not relevant …This deficit does not reflect the financial health of the institution.”

In Bahrain, Gianni Infantino said the FIFA corruption crisis was over and will never happen again. How can we believe that?

Samoura: “President Infantino is absolutely right, because people who committed misdemeanors at the level of confederations or member associations have been charged and a new leadership has been set up at FIFA.

“The most important thing for us is that reforms ensure that this kind of situation does not happen again, by strengthening our control system.”

Is this transparent management undermined by the eviction of Cornel Borbély, head of the Investigation Chamber of the Ethics Commission, and Hans-Joachim Eckert, head of the Ethics Commission’s Trial Chamber?

Samoura: “Many members of our commission completed their mandates in May 2017. Some members had their mandates renewed by the Congress. Other members arrived with a view to greater geographical representativeness and male parity.

“The current president of the Chamber, Maria Claudia Rojas, is the former president of the Court of Justice in Colombia and her competencies cannot be doubted.”

Your detractors present you as without experience in football. What do you say to them?

Samoura: “I was recruited because I am a competent woman, and I run an administration that is no different from crisis management in the United Nations system.

“The objective was clear: to recruit someone who is not part of the football family, who has experience in reform and governance and who could bring diversity and transparency and put the human aspect at the center of decisions of FIFA. That’s what I do on a day-to-day basis.”
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Following the U.S. decision Thursday to quit the United Nations organization for education, science and culture, Israel announced it too will withdraw. The United States stopped funding UNESCO after the Palestinian Authority was accepted into the agency as a full member. As a member subject to membership dues, the United States accumulated a $600 million debt over the years. But as VOA’s Zlatica Hoke reports, the Trump administration also cited anti-Israel bias as a reason for withdrawal.
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Bruno Mars topped the field of American Music Awards nominations announced Thursday, receiving eight nods, while The Chainsmokers, Drake, Kendrick Lamar, Ed Sheeran and The Weeknd received five nominations apiece.

Mars, The Chainsmokers, Drake, Lamar and Sheeran received nominations for the artist of the year award, the top AMA prize.

Justin Bieber, Daddy Yankee and Luis Fonsi received four nominations each, including favorite pop/rock song for their hit collaboration Despacito. The video for Despacito, which set the record for most-watched clip on YouTube with more than 3 billion views, was also nominated for video of the year.

Keith Urban led country artists with three nominations. Nominees for the new artist of the year were James Arthur, Niall Horan, Julia Michaels, Post Malone and Rae Sremmurd.

Alessia Cara, Lady Gaga and Rihanna were nominated for the favorite female pop/rock artist award.

The awards show will air live from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on November 19 at 8 p.m. EST on ABC. The AMA winners are determined by a vote of fans.
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