Dreaming of a better future

The lingering ghosts of colonialism have long haunted Nova Scotia artist Arjun Lal.

“When I’m thinking of colonial ghosts, it’s these elements of colonial legacy and oppression that maintains a presence in this contemporary world,” says Lal, 34.

He said he most commonly sees this in the fetish community, where colonialism is still often role-played through the oppressor and the oppressed.

Seeing how society’s systems and spaces are still shaped by colonial powers, Lal, whose parents both immigrated from India, questioned what it would be like to break free from these systems and their current form: What would it be like to be a flamingo?

Singing the praises of fringe shows that dare to take risks

In the sweltering heat, after a couple of beers, conversation in the Winnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival queues this year could turn saucy.

Rape and assault case against British entertainer Yung Filly heading to jury in Australia

PERTH, Australia (AP) — Lawyers made closing statements Tuesday in the Australian trial of British entertainer Yung Filly on charges that he raped and choked a fan following a music performance two years ago.

The 30-year-old rapper, whose real name is Andres Felipe Valencia Barrientos, had pleaded not guilty in the District Court of Western Australia state to six charges of rape, three charges of assault occasioning bodily harm and one count of choking in a Perth hotel room in September 2024.

The accuser cannot legally be named. She was 20 at the time.

Prosecutor Danielle Clarke told the court Barrientos was an “entitled man” with a “moderate degree of fame" who had been sexually violent toward an “impressionable" young woman.

Cultural consultation gives Indigenous stories strength in Netflix’s new Little House on the Prairie

Through her work as an Indigenous consultant for film and TV, Julie O’Keefe, a citizen of the Osage Nation, has brought accuracy and authenticity to works such as Martin Scorsese’s 2023 crime drama Killers of the Flower Moon, the 2025 western miniseries American Primeval and, most recently, Rebecca Sonnenshine’s new adaptation of Little House on the Prairie.

But she doesn’t work solo.

“One of the things that I always say is, in any of these jobs that I do — whether it’s Shoshone and Paiute and Ute or Osage — I never come alone to this,” says O’Keefe, who grew up in Pawhuska, Okla., the heart of the Osage Nation, and is now based in Santa Fe, N.M. “I engage because those stories are so much richer with our voices added to it, and we know that.

“I’m sitting down with brilliant directors, brilliant writers, and I’m handing over pieces of history that they’re like, ‘How come nobody knows this?’ And the great part is, this is the time in history … people are really starting to get on top of wanting this for their stories, because it really wasn’t of any importance before.”

Artist Betye Saar, whose work reflects Black identity, dies at 99

Artist Betye Saar, whose work reflects Black identity, culture and spirituality, died Sunday morning in Los Angeles at 99.

Saar's death was confirmed Monday by relatives. She would have turned 100 this week.

A central figure of the 1960s Black Art Movement, Saar pioneered assemblage boxes, or sculptures made of found objects, and reclaimed Jim Crow-era memorabilia as powerful totems of Black liberation.

“Her symbolically rich body of work has evolved over time to demonstrate the environmental, cultural, political, racial, technological, economic, and historical context in which it exists,” according to Roberts Projects, the Los Angeles gallery that represents her.

Savannah Guthrie makes an emotional plea to her mother’s kidnappers

“Today” show host Savannah Guthrie says in a new video that her family is living an unending nightmare nearly six months after her mother’s disappearance and pleads with her kidnappers: “Tell us where to look for her.”

The video released Monday is the latest public plea from the journalist about 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie since her disappearance on Feb. 1 from her home just outside Tucson, Arizona. Savannah Guthrie said her family will never stop looking for her.

“The world can be a cruel and unforgiving place, and I know that you have tried to do things the right way,” she said. “So I’m asking you, begging you, to do the right thing now. Make the right choice. Help us find her. Tell us where to look for her. I truly believe it is never too late to do the right thing.”

Authorities believe Nancy Guthrie was kidnapped, abducted or otherwise taken against her will on Feb. 1. They found blood near the front doorstep of her home just outside Tucson, and the FBI later released surveillance videos showing a masked man on the porch that night.

Prague’s rare 70 mm IMAX draws thousands of Europeans for Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey’

PRAGUE (AP) — With Christopher Nolan’s highly anticipated “The Odyssey” recording impressive sales around the globe, thousands of Europeans have used it as a new and unexpected reason to visit Prague.

The Czech capital has a movie theater that's among the few dozen in the world equipped with the coveted 70 mm IMAX screen to watch the first feature made entirely with IMAX film cameras.

“It completely changed my experience about the movie," said Nicolas Walak from Poland, who also saw the movie before on a normal screen before viewing it in Prague. "Everything was great. It was a great movie.”

Czech cinema adapts to meet demand for rare IMAX format

Judge rules singer D4vd must stand trial in killing of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A judge ruled Monday that there is enough evidence to put D4vd on trial in the killing and dismemberment of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, who authorities said had threatened to expose their relationship and crater the indie-pop singer's rising career just a few days before his debut album dropped.

“i will end ur career and ur life,” she told him in a text message sent the night before her death.

Los Angeles Judge Charlaine Olmedo decided that evidence presented during a preliminary hearing provided probable cause for a trial on charges of murder, continuous sexual abuse of a child under 14 and unlawful mutilation of human remains.

The dark and disturbing details presented over five days brought tears, gasps and horror to the courtroom. The evidence included grisly autopsy photos, explicit descriptions and depictions of sexual abuse and a stark picture of the final texts she sent minutes before she died and her phone went permanently silent.

Celebrity birthdays for the week of Aug. 2-8 includes Michelle Yeoh and Charli xcx

Celebrity birthdays for the week of Aug. 2-8:

Aug. 2: Singer Kathy Lennon of The Lennon Sisters is 83. Actor Joanna Cassidy is 81. Actor Kathryn Harrold is 76. Actor Butch Patrick (“The Munsters”) is 73. Music producer and Garbage drummer Butch Vig is 71. Actor Victoria Jackson (“Saturday Night Live”) is 67. Actor Apollonia is 67. Actor Cynthia Stevenson (“Men In Trees,” “Hope and Gloria”) is 64. Actor Mary-Louise Parker is 62. Director-actor Kevin Smith (“Clerks,” “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back”) is 56. Actor Sam Worthington (“Avatar”) is 50. Actor Edward Furlong is 49. “Today” meteorologist Dylan Dreyer is 45. Actor Marci Miller (“Days of Our Lives”) is 41. Singer Charli xcx is 34. Actor Hallie Eisenberg is 34.

Aug. 3: Actor Martin Sheen is 86. Singer Beverly Lee of The Shirelles is 85. Lifestyle guru Martha Stewart is 85. Movie director John Landis is 76. Actor Jo Marie Payton (“Family Matters”) is 76. Actor Philip Casnoff (“Oz,” “Strong Medicine”) is 72. Actor John C. McGinley (“Scrubs”) is 67. Bassist Lee Rocker (Stray Cats) is 65. Actor Lisa Ann Walter (“Abbott Elementary”) is 65. Singer-guitarist James Hetfield of Metallica is 63. Singer Ed Roland of Collective Soul is 63. Actor Isaiah Washington (“Grey’s Anatomy,” ″Soul Food”) is 63. Keyboardist Dean Sams of Lonestar is 60. Guitarist Stephen Carpenter of Deftones is 56. Musician Spinderella of Salt-N-Pepa is 55. Actor Brigid Brannagh (“CSI,” “Army Wives”) is 54. Actor Michael Ealy (“Think Like a Man,” ″Barbershop”) is 53. Violinist Jimmy De Martini of Zac Brown Band is 50. Actor Evangeline Lilly (“Lost”) is 47. Actor Mamie Gummer (“The Good Wife”) is 43. Singer Holly Arnstein of Dream is 41. Actor Georgina Haig (“Once Upon a Time”) is 41. Bassist Brent Kutzle of OneRepublic is 41. Rapper D.R.A.M. is 38.

Aug. 4: Actor Tina Cole (“My Three Sons”) is 83. Actor Billy Bob Thornton is 71. Actor Kym Karath (“The Sound of Music”) is 68. Actor Lauren Tom (“Joy Luck Club,” “Men in Trees”) is 67. Producer Michael Gelman (“Live with Kelly and Ryan”) is 65. Actor Crystal Chappell (“Guiding Light”) is 61. Drummer Rob Cieka of Boo Radleys is 58. Actor Daniel Dae Kim (“Hawaii Five-O,” “Lost”) is 58. Actor Michael DeLuise (“Gilmore Girls,” “NYPD Blue”) is 57. Rapper Yo-Yo (“Miss Rap Supreme”) is 55. Singer-actor Marques Houston of Immature is 45. Actor-turned-princess Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, (“Suits”) is 45. Actor-director Greta Gerwig is 43. “American Idol” runner-up Crystal Bowersox is 41. Actors Dylan and Cole Sprouse (“The Suite Life of Zack and Cody,” “Grace Under Fire”) are 34. “American Idol” runner-up Jessica Sanchez is 31.

Carly Simon has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, treated for skin cancer

NEW YORK (AP) — Singer Carly Simon has been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and was recently treated for skin cancer, the singer shared in a statement provided to The Associated Press.

“So many people have written to me, kindly wondering about my relative silence, asking how I am and what I have been doing. The truth is, I’ve been learning how to live with Parkinson’s disease,” Simon's statement on Monday read.

The singer, 83, had been experiencing arthritis in one of her hips and both her knees, resulting in replacement surgeries for those three joints. But her mobility continued to decline. At times, she said, she could not walk without “considerable help.”

“My family and I knew that something more was going on. After an extensive evaluation at the Mayo Clinic, I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s,” she said.

Gunther von Hagens, the German anatomist behind the ‘Body Worlds’ exhibition, dies at 81

BERLIN (AP) — Gunther von Hagens, the German anatomist who generated both fascination and revulsion around the globe with his “Body Worlds” exhibits of preserved human corpses, has died. He was 81.

Von Hagens' family and the Institute for Plastination, which he founded, said he died on Friday. A statement they issued on Monday gave no further details. Von Hagens had announced in 2010 that he was living with Parkinson’s disease.

Von Hagens trod a fine line between science, entertainment and commerce with his touring exhibits, as well as headline-grabbing actions such as a public autopsy.

At the heart of von Hagens’ work was the so-called plastination process — replacing body fluids with liquid plastic that then hardens. That technique, which he started developing in the 1970s, prevented decay, left tissues intact and allowed him to display preserved corpses and their inner organs.

Bill Oddie, wildlife presenter and star of British comedy series ‘The Goodies,’ dies at 85

LONDON (AP) — Bill Oddie, a British comic actor who had a second career as as a bird expert and wildlife presenter, died on Saturday, his agent said. He was 85.

Oddie first found fame as a member of The Goodies, a comedy trio that also featured Tim Brooke-Taylor and Graeme Garden. The team starred in an off-beat comedy series of the same name that aired from 1970 to 1982 on the BBC. He went on to host BBC wildlife programs, including “Birding With Bill Oddie,” “Bill Oddie Goes Wild" and “Springwatch."

“Bill was a multi-talented celebrity — wildlife presenter, broadcaster, comedian, writer, songwriter, musician and conservationist," his agent, David Foster, said in a statement. “Yet it was never fame that he valued. Instead he encouraged us to respect and protect the environment."

Born in 1941 in Rochdale, northwestern England, Oddie went on to study English literature at Pembroke College, Cambridge. He appeared in several productions of the Cambridge Footlights, a prestigious student sketch comedy troupe, alongside future stars such as John Cleese and Graham Chapman of Monty Python.

‘The Odyssey’ earns $87M in its second weekend, Christopher Nolan’s best second weekend yet

“The Odyssey” continued to exert a mighty hold on moviegoers in its second weekend in North American theaters, with $87 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday. That’s only a 30% drop from its first weekend, an incredibly modest slide for a blockbuster. It’s also filmmaker Christopher Nolan’s best second weekend ever, not accounting for inflation. In 2008, “The Dark Knight” earned $75.2 million in weekend two.

“That would be an impressive opening weekend for any film,” said Paul Dergarabedian, Rentrak’s head of marketplace trends. “This is a testament to the outpouring of excitement and enthusiasm that moviegoers are having for Christopher Nolan’s latest epic.”

With $128.3 million from international theaters, “The Odyssey” has made an estimated $639.6 million globally. Theaters around the world are adding showtimes to try to meet the demand, Dergarabedian said.

As with last weekend, much of that sum is from premium large format screens. IMAX screens alone accounted for $48 million of the global earnings this weekend. The coveted 70 mm IMAX screens, of which there are only 41 worldwide, earned $5.2 million. Most of those showtimes are sold out through September, the company said.