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☆ At Cannes, independent film firms optimistic as streamers stumble
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Miranda Murray | Thomson Reuters | Speed Editor On The Berlin Hub Who Provides General Coverage On Everything Politics To Energy In Germany | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

CANNES, May 17 (Reuters) - Independent film companies facing a market upended by the entry of streaming services are showing some optimism heading into this year's Cannes Film Festival as the Netflix era has begun flattening out and audiences start trickling back into cinemas post-pandemic. Cannes may make headlines for its glitz and glamour, but as the world's largest event for buying and selling movie rights, its importance to the industry is unparalleled. "It's a transitional time on the business side as the traditional business model that independent buyers use sees lessened value," said O'Shea. The similarity among much of the content offered on streaming platforms leaves theatre audiences wanting something different, an unmet appetite that independent companies could fulfil, he said. "Something good is happening, and I'm sure other streaming services will follow suit," Cannes Film Festival director Thierry Fremaux said in an interview with Le Film francais magazine in April.

☆ TikTok has influenced nearly every aspect of book publishing and helped push sales to record highs. 25 insiders describe how it's changed their industry.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Marta Biino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

The BookTok phenomenon helped send book sales to an all-time high and reignite a love for reading. From authors to stores, the book world is turning to TikTok to drive sales and build community. Still, while authors might feel pressure to try TikTok, industry experts say it's better to focus on craft than marketing. Aster is one of the hundreds of authors who are benefitting from the success of TikTok and its book-related hashtag #BookTok. But TikTok's influence on publishing has also dialed up the pressure on authors to be marketers, as well as writers.

☆ Johnny Depp marks celebrity comeback with Cannes opening film
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/3] The 76th Cannes Film Festival - Opening ceremony and screening of the film "Jeanne du Barry" Out of competition - Red Carpet arrivals - Cannes, France, May 16, 2023. Johnny Depp poses. REUTERS/Yara... Read moreCANNES, May 16 (Reuters) - Johnny Depp seemed back in full celebrity mode on Tuesday, signing autographs and taking pictures with fans before the premiere of the Cannes Film Festival's opening film "Jeanne du Barry," which marks the actor's first major role since his high-profile defamation trial. "There are hundreds of film festivals all around the world, but there's only one Cannes," Douglas told the crowd. "Even the casting - some would say stunt casting - of Johnny Depp as the king offers a few early thrills and then mostly yawns," wrote The Hollywood Reporter.

☆ Cannes 2023: The Films We’ve Excited About Seeing
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Kyle Buchanan | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Wes Anderson’s films have premiered at a wide variety of festivals, but after “Moonrise Kingdom” (2012), “The French Dispatch” (2021) and his upcoming ensemble comedy “Asteroid City,” Cannes is the fest he keeps coming back to. Last week, I asked Anderson what he finds so compelling about a debut on the Croisette. “The reason to go to Cannes, I think, is because they said yes,” he deadpanned. “After that, there isn’t really much to contemplate.”Well, there’s a little more to it than that, Anderson admitted: For cinema lovers, there is no holier pilgrimage to make than to the Cannes Film Festival, where movies are treated with the utmost reverence and routinely given marathon standing ovations. It is a place where great auteurs have been canonized, like Martin Scorsese, who won the Palme d’Or in 1976 for “Taxi Driver” and will return this year with his new feature “Killers of the Flower Moon,” and Quentin Tarantino, a Palme winner (for “Pulp Fiction” in 1994) and Cannes habitué who’ll be back at the fest this year for a wide-ranging conversation that may touch on his upcoming final film.

☆ Swedish singer Loreen wins Eurovision Song Contest for 2nd time at event feting Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-14 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Swedish singer Loreen won the Eurovision Song Contest on Saturday night with her power ballad "Tattoo," at a colorful, eclectic music competition clouded for a second year running by the war in Ukraine. Loreen, 39, previously won Eurovision in 2012 and is only the second performer to take the prize twice, after Ireland's Johnny Logan in the 1980s. Under the slogan "united by music," Eurovision final fused the soul of the English port city that birthed The Beatles with the spirit of war-battered Ukraine. Now in its 67th year, Eurovision bills itself as the world's biggest music contest — an Olympiad of party-friendly pop. "Now, the music industry, the world, knows that if you appear at Eurovision, you could be in for a great thing," said Steve Holden, host of the official Eurovision Song Contest podcast.

☆ The real reasons stores are closing in big cities
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-12 | by ( Nathaniel Meyersohn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

These big chains and others have closed stores in major US cities recently, raising alarm about the future of retail in some of the country’s most prominent downtowns and business districts. How policymakers remake their downtowns — with retail as a crucial attraction — will be crucial to cities’ fiscal health and regional economies. People who are being employed in those stores are losing their jobs” because of crime, New York City Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat, said in February. San Francisco lost around 6% of its retail establishments from 2019 to 2021, according to the think tank’s research. For example, chain-store closures in New York City have correlated to the products most frequently bought online.

☆ How to explore Greece's lesser-known islands like a local
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-12 | by ( Karen Gilchrist | Morgan Awyong | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

But now it wants tourists to get to know lesser-known locations across its thousands of sprawling islands. Currently, Germany and the U.K. represent Greece's largest inbound tourism markets by revenue, followed by the United States, France and Italy. An eco-paradise surrounded by 24 islets, Lipsi forms part of the Dodecanese island collection in the southeastern Aegean Sea. Alonissos, SporadesDivers' delight Alonissos, part of the Sporades group of islands, is a diver's paradise and the site of Greece's first underwater museum. Alonissos, part of the Sporades archipelago in the northwest Aegean Sea, is known for its diving spots, including Greece's first underwater museum, the "Parthenon of the Wrecks."

☆ New York Is Full of Empty Offices After Covid. Make Way for the Playground City. - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Edward L. Glaeser | Carlo Ratti | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +20 min

We are witnessing the dawn of a new kind of urban area: the Playground City. The transformation toward the Playground City will not happen on its own. To draw people into the Playground City, we need to show, not tell. 6.Engage citizensGovernments should empower citizens to participate directly in making the Playground City. The Playground City sees people as both a means and an end, and it should involve them in the process of its creation.

☆ I travel the country teaching people about electric cars. Most people don't realize how much range they really need or how fun EVs are to drive.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Alexa St. John | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Here's what he says new electric car buyers get wrong, as told to the reporter Alexa St. John. It was a glaring realization when we looked at the EV space that there wasn't anything like Electrify Expo. Automakers, charging companies, and more come to educate consumers about EVs at Electrify Expo events. At Electrify Expo, we are the closest you can get to the point of purchase for these attendees that are shopping for EVs. Car shoppers experience EVs and ask questions about owning an electric car at Birtwell's Electrify Expo.

☆ The Women Who Are Giving Dating Apps the Summer Off
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Gina Cherelus | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

“As much as I value companionship and relationships, I don’t know that I value it to the point of burnout.”As the days grow longer and the weather warmer, there are some who are opting out of dating apps — at least for now. Of nearly a dozen women interviewed, many said they were reclaiming the time they had spent in the cold winter months swiping through dating apps by prioritizing real-life encounters and focusing on having fun. Ms. Brown recently decided to take her dating life off the apps this summer and will be doing the things she loves, like going to food and wine festivals or on hikes. And if they’re not, they’re not.”Atoosa Moinzadeh is also on that wave. Ms. Moinzadeh, a 30-year-old Brooklyn resident, has been on dating apps for almost 10 years, after first downloading Tinder in 2014.

☆ Flamenco and Fervor: Inside Spain’s El Rocío Pilgrimage
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Kevin Faingnaert | Anna Hart | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

At El Rocío, no faces were closed to outsiders. We were invited into caravans; told to sit and eat stew and sliced watermelon; dragged into flamenco dances; and instructed to take a siesta after lunch in the grass — otherwise we’d “never survive until Sunday,” one participant told us. Everyone seemed to accept that El Rocío is a spectacle. (El Rocío is televised like a sporting event throughout Spain.) By Friday night, the first of the hermandades arrived in El Rocío, a tiny town that reminded me of Western movie sets I’ve seen in California and Arizona.

☆ The federal student loan payment pause may end soon—how borrowers can get ready now
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Kamaron Mcnair | In Kamaronmcnair | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

While the summer signals music festivals and vacations for many, this year it will also mean the return of federal student loan payments. Interest hasn't been accruing and borrowers haven't been required to make payments on their federal student loans since March 2020. But as the federal government winds down its pandemic relief, student loan borrowers are bracing to resume payments, or start making them for the first time. If you graduated or left school between March 2020 and now, you may have never been required to make a payment on your federal student loans. If you're not sure, you can log into your Federal Student Aid (FSA) account and scroll down to the "My Loan Servicers" section, or call the Federal Student Aid Information Center (FSAIC) at 1-800-433-3243.

☆ How These Budding Entrepreneurs Won $20,000 for Their Start-Ups
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Winnie Hu | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Teaching remotely, Ms. Adams put the money that she saved by not commuting toward trying out recipes for vegan muffins, reduced-sugar cookies and low-carb pizzas. A few months ago, Ms. Adams received a newsletter from her landlord, the New York City Housing Authority, which announced a new competition for entrepreneurs living in public housing. It offered cash prizes of up to $20,000 and free business development classes. “I thought it was fake,” Ms. Adams said. She called the housing authority to make sure it was real.

☆ Lauren Daigle, a Christian Music Superstar, Is Ready for a Bigger Tent
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Rob Tannenbaum | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Christian rock began in the late 1960s and early ’70s, when it was known as “Jesus Music,” a grass-roots movement led by longhaired hippie outsiders. Major labels took notice, and began to buy up Christian labels or start imprints of their own. “She left no ambiguity in her music and spoke transparently about her personal relationship to God.”As a child, Daigle dismissed Christian music as cheesy. She was raised in a religious home that welcomed secular music, as long as there “weren’t F-bombs every five seconds,” she said. As her interest in music grew, she cleaned her church choir director’s bathroom in exchange for singing lessons.

☆ PlayStation, treasure hunts and natural wonders: What life is like onboard a giant oil tanker
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Lucy Handley | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

The movies, which feature ambushes, looting and a drunken captain, are far from real life, according to shipping veteran Ralph Juhl. The crew on board an oil tanker operated by Hafnia. Where the ship goes depends on where the demand for oil is and Dixon has sailed to every continent bar Antarctica, he said. An aurora borealis light display in the southern part of Norway, one of the natural spectacles seen by oil tanker captain DSA Dixon during his seafaring life. Oil tanker crew prepare mooring ropes to secure a bunker barge to their vessel for refueling.

☆ Festival fashion is roaring back after a decade-long hiatus thanks to 'Daisy Jones,' Coachella, celebrities, and influencers
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Avery Hartmans | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: 1 min

Music festivals like Coachella have been around for decades, but it wasn't until the 2010s that festival fashion as we know it today really took off. Amy Harris/Invision/APIn a 2021 deep dive on the history of festival fashion, Refinery29 fashion editor Georgia Murray catalogued how styles had changed from Woodstock and Glastonbury in the 1960s and '70s to Coachella and Afropunk in the present day. While early festival fashion was all about escapism and self-expression, she wrote, somewhere around the 2010s, it became commercialized amid the rise of Instagram and then the rise of Instagram influencers. The clothes festival-goers wore took on a new level of importance: looking good on social media.

☆ Inside Qatar’s ‘city of the future’
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Ulrike Lemmin-Woolfrey | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Like others, it has moved from the capital Doha to this, Qatar’s newest city – 10 miles north. Andrej Isakovic/AFP/Getty ImagesLusail claims to be Qatar’s first sustainable city – no easy task for a newbuild in the desert. There’s an extensive choice from food trucks at the Lusail Marina Food Arena, abundant cafes, and fine dining restaurants.”A sprawling city of the futureThe Marina area is fast proving a hit for residents. Al Tara – the district, by Al Maha Island, where Warner lives – is home to the Lusail Marina. There is a rumor – as yet unsubstantiated – that Lusail might eventually become Qatar’s capital city.

☆ The owner of Coachella was once dubbed 'America's most reclusive billionaire.' Meet Philip Anschutz, who's worth $10.9 billion.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Katie Warren | Elana Klein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

American businessman Philip Anschutz is worth $10.9 billion, according to Forbes, after decades building his fortune across multiple industries. Shaun Clark/Getty ImagesCoachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, the music festival currently underway in Indio, California, is owned by Anschutz, an 83-year-old billionaire businessman whom The New Yorker once called "the man who owns LA." He owns Coachella through his company, the Anschutz Corporation, and one of its subsidiaries, Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG). AEG owns several athletic teams, operates more than 90 clubs and theaters around the world, and produces or supports more than 25 music festivals. Take a look at how the billionaire makes and spends his fortune.

☆ Why this rusting industrial city could be Greece’s next tourism hotspot
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Elinda Labropoulou | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

For 2023, it’s been given the title as a Cultural Capital of Europe – a title it shares with Timisoara in Romania and Veszprem in Hungary. Sergio Tsitakis / Design Farm ProductionsFor the occasion, the city’s magnificent archaeological site has been overhauled, improving its accessibility. Being a Cultural Capital has helped dozens of cities that have previously held the title to foster urban regeneration and find a spot on the travel radar. Among upcoming highlights this summer is a play, “Ma,” by Italian director and playwright Romeo Castellucci, a performance specially created to be staged in Eleusis’ archaeological site. And with the majority of international flights landing in Athens, Eleusis is perfectly located as an easy-to-reach destination.

☆ Beyond Kyoto: Japan recommends 11 lesser-known spots to visit
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Rob Goss | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

Japan wants travelers to go beyond the country's iconic tourist sites — and consider spending their yen in lesser-known locations. CNBC Travel takes a look at what each of the 11 spots has to offer travelers — whether or not they're wealthy. Koichi Kamoshida | Getty Images News | Getty ImagesIse-shima is arguably the "model destination" most ready to welcome the JTA's wealthy targets. Kagoshima, Aso and UnzenThe island of Kyushu in western Japan feature everything from active volcanoes to glimpses of samurai culture. Okinawa and AmamiIn 2021, Amami-Oshima Island, Tokunoshima Island, the northern part of Okinawa's main island, and Iriomote Island were given joint UNESCO Natural World Heritage status for their biodiversity and endemic wildlife.

☆ The Capital One Entertainment platform allows cardholders to book theater and concert tickets, sporting events, and exclusive experiences with credit card rewards
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Joseph Hostetler | Credit Cards Reporter | Read More | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Our experts answer readers' credit card questions and write unbiased product reviews (here's how we assess credit cards). You can redeem Capital One rewards for cheap seats — and some events can only be redeemed with rewards. Capital One EntertainmentCapital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card Apply now lock icon An icon in the shape of lock. If you plan to redeem cash back for tickets that can otherwise be bought with cash, it's a much better idea to simply purchase your tickets outright and redeem cash back to offset your transaction later. Also, note that Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card† and Capital One SavorOne Cash Rewards Credit Card cardholders will earn 8% back through Capital One Entertainment.

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☆ Egyptian female Islamic chanters break into male-dominated field
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Then at the age of 17, her mother encouraged her to learn "Maqamat" - the art of singing Arabic music melodies which would prepare her for Inshad chanting. Now 27, she is the founder of "Al Hoor" - an all female Islamic chanting troupe in Egypt. "I felt women were underrepresented in this field and I wanted us to take part in developing the art form of chanting," she said. Shaimaa El Nouby, another Egyptian female chanter, said she faced similar challenges. "I want to develop chanting as an art form while protecting the old schools of Inshad," she said.

☆ Israeli curbs on Orthodox Church crowds in Jerusalem for Easter draw ire
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( James Mackenzie | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

JERUSALEM, April 12 (Reuters) - Israeli police will curb the number of worshippers in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem for safety reasons during Orthodox Easter ceremonies on Saturday, drawing anger from church leaders who said they would not cooperate. However, the decision to limit access on Saturday to the Holy Fire, the most important Easter celebration for the Eastern Orthodox Church, angered church leaders who saw it as part of what they consider long-standing efforts by Israel to restrict the rights and freedoms of the local Christian community. Additional checkpoints around the Old City will also restrict access to the area around the church. But it reflected complaints from Christians that they are being gradually but systematically shut out of the Old City by Israeli authorities, who they say are upsetting longstanding status quo arrangements between the three communities. Additional reporting by Henriette Chacar and Emily Rose; Editing by Bernadette BaumOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ How 2 Gen Z climate leaders turn their eco-anxiety into action: 'This isn't a fad. This is the future'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-02 | by ( Jennifer Liu | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The climate crisis impacts everyone, and young people feel especially stressed about the warming planet. In a recent conversation at the South by Southwest conference in Austin, Texas, tech founder and philanthropist Alexis Ohanian spoke with two Gen Z climate leaders about how they manage their eco-anxiety. Penn says the biggest way she confronts climate anxiety is by taking action, and her biggest motivator is using hope and joy as tools of resilience. Most recently, Penn says she channels her climate anxiety through art, namely through her first animated short film "Asali: Power of the Pollinators" with executive producer Viola Davis, which comes out in April. She also stresses the need to tap into Black, Brown and Indigenous communities to measure negative impact as well as seek solutions.

☆ Why 2023 is the year to visit Mongolia
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Breanna Wilson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia CNN —Due to its remoteness and short summer season, Mongolia has long been a destination overlooked by travelers. Here are 10 reasons travelers should start planning their long-dreamed-of Mongolia visit now. A growing visa-free listWith the government of Mongolia declaring 2023 through 2025 the “Years to Visit Mongolia,” citizens from an additional 34 countries can now visit the country visa-free through the end of 2025. Celebrate Naadam as it turns the centuryThe annual Naadam event has always been a great reason to visit Mongolia, but now that the festival has just celebrated its 100 year anniversary, 2023 is as good a time as ever to attend. Yeruu LodgeNestled in the heart of Selenge province on the Yeruu River, Yeruu Lodge is the brainchild of Norwegian founder Eirik Gulsrud Johnsen, who first visited Mongolia in 2017.

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