Actor and movie idol Tab Hunter, whose striking good looks attracted a huge following among teenage girls in the 1950s, has died at 86.

Hunter’s spouse said the actor died unexpectedly after a blood clot in his leg led to cardiac arrest.

Hunter was born Arthur Kelm in New York and became interested in acting at an early age.

In Hollywood, an agent renamed him Tab Hunter and got him minor movie roles, particularly in war drama and westerns, despite no formal dramatic training.

Hunter was cast as a baseball player in the 1958 musical “Damn Yankees.” The role made him a household name. He also appeared on Broadway and starred in his own television situation comedy.

Hunter won new fans in the 1980s when he was cast in the cult films “Polyester” and “Lust in the Dust.”

In his 2005 memoir, Hunter revealed he was gay. He wrote about his frustration in being forced to hide his true self in 1950s America.

“I believed wholeheartedly — still  do — that a person’s happiness depends on being true to themselves,” he wrote.
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Canadian rapper Drake shattered records with his new album “Scorpion,” which became the first to score one billion streams in its first week and also debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 album charts.

Drake’s record company, Republic Records, said the 31-year-old musician, who was the biggest seller in 2016, was the first artist to reach one billion plus streams globally across all platforms in one week of release. The previous record of almost 700 million streams was set in May by Post Malone’s “beerbongs & bentleys.”

According to data on Monday from Nielsen Music, the 25-track double album “Scorpion” sold some 731,000 units in the United States for the week, making the soul-baring record the biggest seller of 2018 by far.

The Billboard 200 album chart tallies units from album sales, song sales (10 songs equal one album) and streaming activity (1,500 streams equal one album).

“Scorpion” also gave Drake seven songs in the top 10 Billboard Hot 100 singles charts, Billboard said on Monday, led by “Nice for What.” That beat a record of five simultaneous songs by The Beatles in 1964 when the British band was at the height of its fame.

“Scorpion” made headlines on its June 29 release because Drake confirmed long-standing rumors that he had fathered a son, but he did not name the mother.

Streaming services in 2017 became the recording industry’s biggest single revenue source, overtaking sales of physical albums and digital downloads. Rap officially surpassed rock in 2017 as the biggest music genre in the United States.

“Scorpion” is a joint release on Warner Bros. and Universal Music-owned labels OVO Sound, Young Money Entertainment, Cash Money Records and Republic Records.
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The plot of the new Incredibles movie features a heroine whose life swings between high adventure and humdrum normality, American actress Holly Hunter, who plays Helen, otherwise known as Elastigirl, said Monday.

Hunter was speaking after the British premiere of Incredibles 2 at London’s British Film Institute on Sunday, where she was joined on the red carpet by co-star Samuel L. Jackson, who plays the character Frozone.

The film features a family of superheroes who also have an ordinary family life.

“People really want the fantastic and they recognize the [ordinary]. They recognize the fights and the stresses and the tensions and the bickering and the fussing and the challenges and the competition that we see with this family,” Hunter told Reuters Monday.

Elastigirl becomes a poster girl for superheroes who are outlawed. She juggles family life with a full-time job as well as fighting the evil ‘Screenslaver.’

Hunter said “having it all” was a difficult concept to live up to as a career woman and mother. This is recognized in writer-director Brad Bird’s film.

“Most women have some conflict with leaving family and a lot of men feel some insecurity about being the primary caretaker,” she said. “She will leave it all in one second to run back home if she thinks that Mr. Incredible can’t do it.”

Hunter believes the changes in equality and diversity in Hollywood is “not a trend” but a “renaissance,” though more is needed to be done.

Incredibles 2 is out in U.K. cinemas on July 13.
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Around 500 Australians shivered in the nude for American photographer Spencer Tunick on Monday, braving the winter chill on a Melbourne supermarket rooftop for his latest mass nude shots.

The participants, chosen from 12,000 eager applicants, posed standing and lying down on concrete, covered only in transparent red fabric, with the temperature hovering around 7 degrees Celsius (45 degrees Fahrenheit) in the wind.

“I saw it come up online and I was like, ‘Yes! Like I have to get involved.’ Spencer Tunick I feel is legendary for subversive art, nude subversive art. I feel like Melbourne could definitely do with a dose of that,” Jane Louise, one of the participants, told reporters.

Participants didn’t have their gear off for too long.

“I worked quickly in order to keep them not from freezing and I think I got some beautiful artworks,” Tunick told reporters.

Another participant, Belle Harvey, said: “Yeah, he was good fun. Every now and again we would laugh, and he would be like, ‘You need to be quiet. No smiling. Hands up.’”

Woolworths, the owner of the suburban supermarket where the shots were taken, had at first refused to allow Tunick access to its car park, fearing it would inconvenience shoppers during busy weekend hours.

The retail giant relented when the artist agreed to take the shots on a quiet Monday morning instead.

Tunick was invited as part of a Melbourne arts festival.
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For decades, Jim Henson’s Muppets have captured the imagination of children and adults worldwide. A traveling exhibit at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles not only showcases some of the most beloved Muppets but also the work that took place behind the scenes to entertain as well as educate. VOA’s Elizabeth Lee has more.
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Kurdish culture thrives in the Shahba refugee camp on the outskirts of the Syrian city of Afrin. Among the city’s displaced residents now living in the camp are members of a local theater group. Nevroz Resho visited the group in the camp as they rehearsed their play, “The Sin of the Horse.” Bezhan Hamdard narrates.
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Fifty-three men slung their wives or partners over their shoulders and hurtled off on an hourlong race in the small Finnish town of Sonkajarvi on Saturday, as thousands of fans cheered from the stands.

The World Wife-Carrying Championship, now in its 23rd year, draws thousands of visitors to the town of 4,200 and has gained followers around the world.

There are official qualifying competitions in countries including the United States, United Kingdom, Sweden and Estonia. On Saturday, 53 couples from 13 countries joined the competition, organizers said.

The idea of wife-carrying as a sport was inspired by the 19th-century legend of Ronkainen the Robber, who tested aspiring members of his gang by forcing them to carry sacks of grain or live pigs over a similar course.

The championship is also said to stem from an even earlier practice of wife-stealing — leading many present-day contestants to compete with someone else’s wife.

On Saturday, Lithuanian parents of two, Vytautas Kirkliauskas and Neringa Kirkliauskiene, won the race, which involved running, wading through a slippery pool and getting through an obstacle course. The two defeated six-time world champion Taisto Miettinen, a Finn.

“It’s my wife,” Kirkliauskas shouted happily after the race. “She’s the best.”

The couple first competed in Sonkajarvi in 2005.

Finland, which straddles the Arctic Circle and goes through long, dark winters, is no stranger to strange sports. It has also given the world the world boot throwing, air guitar and mobile phone throwing competitions, to name a few.

“I think because we have only three months of light, we need to come up with nice stuff to do during the summertime, and we want to show everyone we have a great sense of humor,” said Sanna-Mari Nuutinen, a volunteer at Saturday’s event.
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Although Russia made it further at this year’s World Cup than almost anyone expected, it was Croatia that advanced to the semifinals with a 4-3 shootout victory Saturday following a 2-2 draw.

The overachieving hosts, the lowest-ranked team in the tournament at No. 70, were trying to make it to the World Cup semifinals for the first time since the Soviet Union finished fourth at the 1966 tournament in England.

“I left everything on the field and unfortunately we were unlucky,” Russia midfielder Roman Zobnin said. “We gave everything we could.”

The Croats hadn’t advanced this far at the World Cup since 1998, when the country made its first appearance.

Croatia will next play England in the semifinals on Wednesday in Moscow. The English team defeated Sweden 2-0.

With the crowd silenced following an extra-time goal from Croatia defender Domagoj Vida in the 101st minute, Russia defender Mario Fernandes scored to send the match to yet another penalty shootout.

Native Brazilian

Fernandes, who was born in Brazil but rejected a chance to play for that country’s national team, sent his penalty kick wide of the net in the shootout, giving Croatia the advantage.

Both goalkeepers made early saves in the shootout, with an injured Danijel Subasic stopping the opening shot from Fedor Smolov. Igor Akinfeev later blocked an attempt from Mateo Kovacic.

At 1-1, Fernandes missed his shot — only the second player to miss in any of the four shootouts at this year’s World Cup.

The teams then traded two scores each before Ivan Rakitic calmly scored the winning penalty.

Denis Cheryshev gave Russia the lead with a shot into the upper corner in the 31st minute. Croatia equalized with Andrej Kramaric’s header near halftime.

It was the second straight time both teams played in a shootout. Russia beat Spain 4-3 and Croatia defeated Denmark 3-2 in the round of 16.

Argentina in 1990 had been the last team to win consecutive World Cup shootouts. It defeated Yugoslavia in the quarterfinals and Italy in the semifinals that year, which also made Italy the last host nation to lose on penalties before Saturday.
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The Museum of Making Music in Carlsbad, California, celebrates music making throughout the year.

During a recent international festival, the museum encouraged young and old to pick up an instrument and strike a tune, joining music lovers in more than 100 countries on Make Music day, June 21.

Visitors were greeted with the symphonic sounds of the Earth Harp, strung across the parking lot, as they arrived. Inside, some amateur music makers held group performances, while others wandered the exhibits, banging on a gong or strumming a mandolin.

“We want every child that comes through this museum to pluck a string, hit a key, hit a drum,” said museum director Carolyn Grant, “because it doesn’t take much to ignite that spark” and a lifelong passion.

Said Laura Jordon-Smith, mom to a 2-year-old budding musician: “She loves to learn the words, especially songs that have little hand motions and things. She loves what we do in her music classes.”

Whether playing or listening, music is an exciting means of self-expression, said museum director Grant.
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