#Diamond Euro Tour Paris

[courseyoulovemeyoudontknowme]

Monte Carlo (2011, Thomas Bezucha)

27/11/2023

Monte Carlo is a 2011 film directed by Thomas Bezucha.

The protagonists of the film are Selena Gomez, Katie Cassidy and Leighton Meester who in the film play three friends who organize a trip to Paris. The film is based on the novel Headhunters by Jules Bass.

Grace Bennett is a high school senior from Texas who works as a waitress with her best friend Emma Perkins to earn money for a trip to Paris after graduation. After admiring the view from the top of the Eiffel Tower, they lose the bus and their tour guide, and to take shelter from the rain they find refuge in the lobby of a luxury hotel where Grace is mistaken by everyone, including the paparazzi, for an heiress Englishwoman named Cordelia Winthrop-Scott. The heiress, however, secretly leaves the hotel to join her friends in Ibiza, so they spend the night in Cordelia's suite and from that moment a new holiday begins for the three friends.

As scheduled in Cordelia's agenda, the three leave together with the heiress' luggage, on a private jet for Monte Carlo where Cordelia must participate in a charity auction for which she must donate an expensive Bulgaria diamond necklace. During a party organized in her honor, Grace meets Cordelia's aunt, Alicia who actually mistakes her for her niece thanks to her incredible resemblance and Emma dances with Domenico, a French prince. The following day, Meg reunites with Riley, a globetrotting Australian boy she met briefly in Paris. When Grace take part in a polo match, Alicia quickly discovers that she is not her niece, who is a real talent in that sport.

The evening before the auction, Prince Domenico invites Emma to a dinner on a yacht. Meanwhile Cordelia sees a photo of her in a newspaper at a party with two girls and after discovering that her necklace is missing, she calls the police.

Cordelia manages to escape and reveals Grace's fraud, also demanding that she be arrested, but after Grace makes a public confession, Aunt Alicia, believing in her good faith, unexpectedly makes a generous offer for the necklace of 6 million euros.

Eventually Meg decides to join Riley on his trip around the world which is on a peak of Machu Picchu; Owen and Emma get married and live in Texas; while Grace volunteers in schools in Romania where she meets her love, Theo.

Nicole Kidman, Denise Di Novi and Alison Greenspan are the producers of the film for 20th Century Fox and New Regency Productions. The production began filming in Hungary on May 5, 2010 in Budapest.

[beninparis]

Additional Sites:

Site 1: The Sewers (or Musee des Egouts de Paris)

I ended up arriving later than anticipated due to some issues in figuring out the transit systems. I am probably never going to try taking a bus again, at least until I figure that beast out. Fortunately, I made it anyway and still had time to tour before class later that day. There was a tour guide giving a presentation, but he spoke French which I could not begin to understand. So with the museum guide downloaded to my phone, I strolled through at my own pace while tolerating the smell..

While there is a lot of history present in the sewers, the museum best shows the present day and how the sewers are currently being used. In fact, the toilet has a diagram showing the path that what you flushed will go down. While the museum features a lot of equipment still in use today, such as a full PPE uniform on display, it also features relics of how the sewer used to operate. This includes the 2-ball wagon which was used to remove sediment that accumulated on the bottom of the collectors before its discontinued use in 2005. Now it serves the noble purpose of sitting and collecting rust while covered nosed tourists look behind a fence.

The sewers also feature wall murals depicting the kind of sewer scenes one might find in pop culture. One mural behind a caged door shows a Dick Tracy styled man carrying another man into the darkness of the sewers. Another mural, one that caught me by surprise, is a sewer monster waiting to startle guests. At the end of one of the tunnels, guests can find a creature with the body of a rat, the arms of a mantis, and the tail of a scorpion. No explanation is given and the mystery to it makes it my personal favorite part of the sewers. Like I said in my blog, I need to know more.

Site 2: The Eiffel Tower

There was no way in hell I was going to leave Paris without a visit to the Eiffel Tower, so I booked a ticket for Monday night. Like many other French monuments, this one was packed with people trying to make money from visitors, hoping they wouldn't think to not buy alcohol from a sketchy guy in a park. The view of the tower from below was fascinating, but the real magic was going to come later on.

It took a few minutes of waiting since I got to my line early and 2 elevators to get to my destination. Yet I made sure to pause on the second floor because of how I timed my tickets. There, I got to watch the sun dip down below Paris as the sky slowly turned a darker blue. It continued like that for the second ride up as the building itself turned golden. The top was packed. More than I would like to be but what would you really expect from this tower? Up top were various exhibits showing off the story of the tower. Neither of those could distract from the view. The view that somehow makes Paris look smaller and bigger at the same time. I had my earbuds with me so I had to take advantage and listen to Rihanna’s Diamonds just once. I always pictured that as the soundtrack to me standing above the golden city dressed in dapper black. Only thing missing from the image is a champagne glass, because I am not spending 45 euro on champagne.

While the Eiffel Tower has many facilities in it, they were experiencing a bit of trouble involving card payments. I was fortunate enough to have just the right amount of cash for souvenirs, but unfortunate enough to arrive when most of the restaurants were closed. Other than that, the time I spent was magic. Some of the magic carried over when I got to the ground and saw the tower still lit up in gold. This is actually my last class with UK as I already walked and will receive my diploma in August. I can now say that I ended my UK college career in Paris with a view from the Eiffel Tower, which I never imagined when I started 4 years ago.

[fuckyeahsk8net]

Diamond Euro Tour Paris Ce dimanche 10 juin, Le Diamond Europe tour, fait étape à Paris. Open session avec les pros, ce dimanche à la défense. 

[kpopmakesmequestionmylifechoices]

I’ve been in the kpop fandom for so long but I have no clue what or who MMT is?? Can you please tell me? Sorry for being clueless😓

Ofc, no problem.

MMT is the abbreviation for "my music taste". It's a concert-organisation company, which brings artist from all over the world (not only kpop artists) to wherever fans "want" them. This is due to the fact that fans can vote for their artists to come to a certain city ("to make a campaign"), and the mmt algorithm calculates a specific amount of points depending on where you live and how much you'd be willed to pay. If an artist reaches approximately 50.000 points for a campaign (aka for a city basically), mmt contacts the artists company and tries to make a tour-deal with them. So far so good, the concept itself is a good approach, however they fail on so so many levels. Here some few examples:

They only hold concerts in major cities in Europe, especially Berlin, London and Paris. Even if other big cities got over 40.000 points as well, if it's not a capital city, they don't give a shit.

They have ridiculous prices which are absolutely out of proportion. Tho they apparently increased the prices over the years as well.

Funnily enough they tend to sell more VIP tickets than general admission tickets (which is hilarious because that makes GA more special than VIP). As on hand experience: The SF9 concert in Berlin had like 60 percent VIP and the rest was GA. In general they oversold the venues aka sold too many tickets, so it was too crowded and you could absolutely not move a single inch. Same apparently now happened during Stray Kids tour, where lots of people even fainted because of overcrowding and no air conditioning.

Apart from that their organisation is partly catastrophic. They say camping isn't allowed, yet they don't hinder people from doing it, accepting fan-numbering but then later on either not acknowledging it or even doing their own numbering all of sudden without anyone knowing. To the organisation I personally also can add the incident that they let us in 20 minutes after the concert began, for GOT7 in Paris. We heard the concert from the outside but because they started the security checks too late, at least 500 people were let in too late.

Their security/hired security is a joke. They don't notice people smuggling stuff into the venue (which could be highly dangerous if one thinks about it). They also don't care about people having problems due to numbering discussions. In Paris there literally were dudes who sold tickets illegally way too expensive to fans at the venue (!) and molested them, security didn't care. In Berlin they were super impolite stressing people af making us basically run through the hitouch (for which we paid 150 euros btw). Also mentionable is that they officially prohibit people to bring camera equipment to venues (so basically fansites), yet they let them in, which is quite stressful for people near them because you get easily hit by their cameras/or simply don't see shit because of their cameras in front of you.

Last but not least the fact that for years they didn't care about "make for make", means fans asked fans of other bands to vote for their band, in return for a vote for the others band - even tho both were not interested in the others band. The logic behind that is, that 1. People want to get their band into their country by all means. 2. You get 'diamonds' for people using your individual link for voting. Diamonds will give you benefits, if you are under the top 10 you'll get front row tickets. However these make for make things are obviously highly problematic, not fair at all, and literally fake votes, causing some venues to actually stay empty even tho they had enough votes. Simply because the votes were by people who never even intended to go there. MMT didn't do shit about this for years, now they finally stepped in....however I saw that people happily continued with their 'make for make' actions, I was asked several times the past weeks to vote for bands make for make style. So you see, nothing changed.

In conclusion, MMT always talks and is like "oh we'll make sure to solve this/improve this/" whatsoever, but nothing changed. It only got worse and worse. So please. Ya all stop supporting them.

[ladystylestores]

Coronavirus: What sporting events are affected by the pandemic? | News

The outbreak of the novel coronavirus, which as of May 21 has killed more than 329,000 people  globally, has affected sporting events across the world.

As the number of confirmed coronavirus cases worldwide has surged past five million, major sporting events have been cancelled or postponed.

The most significant one that was due to take place in Japan this summer was the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

More:

However, the International Olympic Committee and Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe have postponed the event to next year, where it will now take place from July 23 to August 8, 2021.

Football

In South Korea, the football league season restarted on May 8 after several weeks of postponement, with reigning champions Jeonbuk Motors hosting Suwon Bluewings in an empty World Cup Stadium in Jeonju.

The Major League Soccer (MLS) top-tier football league in the US has extended its postponement of matches in the country until at least June 8 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

On April 12, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) announced the postponement of the two-legged semi-finals of the African Champions League that were supposed to take place in May.

“In light of growing concerns and evolving nature on COVID-19 (that has led to a) lockdown in most countries, the CAF Emergency Committee has decided to postpone the matches until further notice,” a statement said.

The CONCACAF (Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football) Nations League Finals, which were scheduled for June 4 to June 7, have been suspended. The finals, due to be contested by Costa Rica, Honduras, Mexico and the United States and held in the Houston and Dallas areas of Texas, will be rescheduled for a later date in venues to be determined.

Football in Russia has been suspended until April 10. The Russian league was the best-attended sports competition still operating in Europe last weekend, with more than 33,000 fans at one of its games, but the Russian Football Union agreed to immediately suspend all competitions at a meeting on March 17.

In Germany, the top-flight Bundesliga resumed its season on May 16 behind closed doors after a two-month hiatus. 

The African Nations Championship 2020  tournament scheduled for April in Cameroon has been postponed indefinitely, the African Football Federation said in a statement on March 17.

This year’s Copa America has been postponed until 2021, the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) said on March 17. The 12-team tournament had originally been scheduled to take place from June 12 to July 12 in Colombia and Argentina.

The Euro 2020 tournament has been postponed until 2021, European football’s governing body UEFA said in a statement on March 17. UEFA said that the 24-team tournament, which was due to be staged in 12 nations across the continent from June 12 to July 12 this year, would now take place from June 11 to July 11, 2021. 

On April 23, UEFA also postponed the Euro 2021 Women’s championship, and it will now be played in England from July 6 to July 31, in the same venues that were originally proposed to host the event.  

Meanwhile in England, all elite football has been suspended until at least April 30.

Europa League match between Inter Milan and Ludogorets was played in an empty stadium in Milan, Italy [Emilio Andreoli/Reuters]

UEFA on April 1 suspended all Champions League and Europa League matches “until further notice”.

All national team games scheduled for June have also been postponed.

FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation have agreed to postpone the Asian World Cup qualifying matches in March and June.

New seasons in the Chinese, Japanese and South Korean professional leagues have been postponed.

Asian Champions League matches involving Chinese clubs Guangzhou Evergrande, Shanghai Shenhua and Shanghai SIPG have been postponed. The start of the knockout rounds has been moved back to September.

The Confederation of African Football has postponed two rounds of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers scheduled for March 25-31.

An exhibition match between Mexico and Colombia on May 30 at Denver has been cancelled.

The three divisions of England’s National League have also been suspended indefinitely.

The rest of the Dutch football league has been cancelled and leading team Ajax will not be declared the champion.

Marathons

The London Marathon, which was scheduled to take place on April 26, has been postponed until October 4.

The Boston Marathon, originally scheduled for April 4, is now expected to take place on September 14.

Amsterdam, Paris and Barcelona marathons have also been postponed. 

In Japan on March 1, the Tokyo Marathon, which usually attracts 300,000 participants, was restricted to only 200 elite runners.

Combination photos show how runners fill the street at the start of the Tokyo Marathon 2019 in Tokyo, Japan in this March 3, 2019, right, and runners start at the Tokyo Marathon 2020 in Tokyo, Japan on March 1, 2020 [Kyodo/via Reuters]

Olympic Games

The International Olympic Committee and Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe have concluded the Tokyo 2020 Olympics must be postponed.    

The decision was made after holding out for weeks as local organisers and the IOC came under increasing pressure from athletes, national Olympic bodies and sports federations.

The event will now take place from July 23 to August 8, 2021. 

Athletics

The traditional Berlin athletics meeting, ISTAF, will not take place without spectators later this year if coronavirus restrictions remain in place, organisers have said. The 79th edition of the event is scheduled for September 13, but meeting director Martin Seeber said he is planning a potential cancellation and wants a decision by mid-June.

The World Athletics Championships scheduled to take place in Oregon in August 2021 have been pushed back to July 2022 to avoid clashing with the rescheduled Olympic Games, the sport’s governing body said on April 8. 

The Diamond League postponed its first five meetings of the 2020 season due to be held in April and May in Qatar, China, Stockholm, Naples and Rabat.

World Athletics said in a statement that it “approved the new dates this week after extensive discussions with the sport’s stakeholders.”

The World Athletics Indoor Championships, scheduled for Nanjing from March 13-15, have been postponed until next year.

Formula 1

The Hungarian Formula One Grand Prix, which was scheduled originally for August 2, can only take place without spectators, organisers said

Formula One plans to start its season behind closed doors in Austria from July 3-5, followed by the British Grand Prix at Silverstone under similar conditions, but has yet to publish a revised calendar.

The Azerbaijan Grand Prix became the latest postponement in the calendar, meaning there will be no Formula One races until the middle of June at the earliest.

The race at the Baku City Circuit was scheduled for June 7.

Formula 1 cancelled the season-opening Australian GP after a McLaren team member contracted the coronavirus. The race was scheduled to take place on March 15. 

The Bahrain Grand Prix and the Vietnam Grand Prix have been postponed. Those events were first scheduled to take place on March 20-22 and April 3-5 respectively.

The Bahrain Grand Prix in Manama was due to be held without fans before organisers decided to postpone the race [File: Thaier Al-Sudani/Reuters]

The Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai, which was scheduled to take place on April 19, was also called off. 

Races in the Netherlands, Spain and Monaco in May have all been postponed, the governing motorsport body FIA said on March 19. 

Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix organisers announced on April 7 that the race in Montreal that was supposed to kick off the 2020 World Championship calendar will be postponed until further notice. 

The French Formula 1 Grand Prix scheduled for June 28 at Le Castellet has been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, organisers said on April 27.

Racing

The Indianapolis 500 scheduled for May 24 has been postponed until August 23 and will not run on Memorial Day weekend for the first time since 1946.

The French MotoGP initially scheduled for May 15-17 in Le Mans, was postponed because of the “ongoing coronavirus outbreak”, organisers announced on April 2.

Tennis

The International Tennis Federation (ITF) said 900 tournaments across all its circuits had been postponed and that it was furloughing half its staff.

The ITF’s revamped Fed Cup Finals was one of the high-profile events postponed. It was supposed to have taken place this month in Budapest.

The 2020 Wimbledon tennis championships have been cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic, the All England Club announced on April 1.

It is the first time the championships, due to take place between June 28 and July 11, have been called off since World War II.

The professional tennis tour – men’s and women’s – has been suspended until June 7, with all clay-court tournaments in Europe cancelled. ATP and WTA rankings have been frozen until further notice. 

Joint WTA/ @atptour Announcement:

All ATP and WTA tournaments in the Spring clay court swing will not be held as scheduled.

The professional tennis season is now suspended through June 7, 2020 –> https://t.co/IYR6A2pI05 pic.twitter.com/qHOlmohWbq

— WTA (@WTA) March 18, 2020

The US Women’s Open in Houston has been postponed from the end of spring to the middle of December.

The USGA said that the rapid development of COVID-19 has led the Women’s Open at Champions Golf Club to be postponed. Instead of being held June 4-7, the new date is December 10-13.

The French Open has been postponed until September 20 – October 4, organisers said on March 17. The clay-court major was originally scheduled to be played from May 24-June 7.

There was also disappointment for tennis fans in California as the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells was cancelled.

Also cancelled were the Xi’an Open, scheduled for April 13 to 19, and Kunming Open, pencilled for April 27 to May 3. Both events were to take place in China.

In the United Kingdom, the Main Board of the All England Club (AELTC) and the Committee of Management of The Championships on April 1 decided to cancel the Wimbledon grasscourt Grand Slam, formally known as The Championships 2020. The 134th Championships will instead be staged from 28 June to 11 July 2021.

Boxing

The world boxing heavyweight title fight between Briton Anthony Joshua and the IBF’s mandatory challenger Kubrat Pulev of Bulgaria originally scheduled for June 20 has been postponed, promoters said.

The Tokyo Olympic boxing qualifiers for Asia and Oceania were moved to Jordan from China.

However, the European, American and final world qualifying boxing tournaments for the Olympic Games have been suspended, the International Olympic Committee said.

Briton Anthony Joshua’s world heavyweight title defence against Bulgarian Kubrat Pulev would probably take place at the end of the year instead of June 20 at Tottenham Hotspur’s stadium in London as scheduled.

Basketball

On May 19, the German basketball league (BBL) has been given permission by the regional Bavarian government to conclude its season   with a 10-team tournament in Munich’s Audi Dome in the first weekend of June.

The National Basketball Association (NBA) said on March 11 that it was suspending the season until further notice after a Utah Jazz player tested positive for the virus.

The WNBA draft will be a virtual event this year. The women’s league announced that its draft will still be held on April 17 as originally scheduled, but without players, fans or media in attendance due to the coronavirus pandemic.

WNBA postpones start of 2020 regular season

The Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) postponed the 2020 regular season as coronavirus continues spreading rapidly across the US and the world.

“As developments continue to emerge around the COVID-19 pandemic, including the extension of the social distancing guidelines in the United States through April 30, the WNBA will postpone the start of its training camps and the tip of the regular season originally scheduled for May 15,” the WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said in a statement late Friday.

“While the league continues to use this time to conduct scenario-planning regarding new start dates and innovative formats, our guiding principle will continue to be the health and safety of the players, fans and employees,” she added.

Rugby

World Rugby’s governing body announced on May 15 it has postponed all test matches scheduled for July due to travel curbs and health protocols implemented to halt the spread of the novel coronavirus.

It was too early to determine whether matches in the November window would be affected at this stage, it added, with a decision contingent on advice from governments and health organisations.

In France, the country’s rugby federation said on March 13 that it was suspending all of its competitions due to the outbreak.

At least three Six Nations matches have been postponed.

The women’s Six Nations game between Scotland and France was postponed after a Scottish player tested positive for coronavirus.

The Singapore and Hong Kong legs of the World Rugby Sevens Series have been postponed from April to October.

MotoGP

The opening two rounds of the season in Qatar, which were scheduled for March 6-8, did not go ahead. The Thailand race, due to be held on March 22, has been postponed.

April rounds in Texas and Argentina have been pushed back to November. 

The Spanish Grand Prix scheduled for May 3 has also been postponed. It is the fifth MotoGP race to be cancelled or postponed due to the coronavirus. 

Table tennis

The world championships in Busan, South Korea, have been pushed back provisionally from March to June. 

The April 21 to 26 World Tour Japan Open in Kitakyushu has been postponed.

Golf

On May 14, the PGA Tour said testing for the novel coronavirus and daily temperature checks will be a mandatory feature of the return of professional golf in the US on June 11 with the Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas. 

The Saudi Ladies International, the first women’s professional golf event to be staged in Saudi Arabia, has been rescheduled for October 8-11 after it was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, organisers have confirmed.

The 2020 Masters Tournament has been provisionally rescheduled for November 12-15, Augusta National Golf Club has said.

The 149th Open Championship due to be played at Royal St George’s from July 16-19 has been cancelled. “The R&A has decided to cancel The Open in 2020 due to the current Covid-19 pandemic,” the governing body said in a statement, adding that “the Championship will next be played at Royal St George’s in 2021”.

The KLPGA Championship at the Lakewood Country Club in Yangju, South Korea was held without spectators [Lee Jin-man/AP]

 The Trophee Hassan II in Morocco from June 4-7 was postponed and the Scandinavian Mixed tournament in Stockholm was cancelled and will now be played in 2021.

The Honda LPGA Thailand event and the HSBC Women’s World Championship in Singapore have been cancelled.

The Maybank Championship in Kuala Lumpur and the China Open have been postponed.

The Indian and China opens have both been postponed.

The Evian Masters women’s golf tournament has been moved to August.

The Dubai Duty Free Irish Open announced on March 30 that it would be postponed due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The European Tour confirmed that the event, scheduled for 28-31 May at Mount Juliet, has been postponed following “consultation with all stakeholders”.

Cycling

The road cycling European championships scheduled for September in the Italian province of Trentino have been postponed by a year, the Union Europeenne de Cyclisme (UEC) said on May 3.

The three-week Tour de France, scheduled for June 27, will now start on August 29 and will finish on September 20.

The Tour could not start as scheduled in the Riviera city of Nice because French President Emmanuel Macron cancelled all public events with large crowds through mid-July in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Top one-day cycling races Paris-Roubaix and Liege-Bastogne-Liege have been postponed, organisers said on March 17. Paris-Roubaix and Liege-Bastogne-Liege, which were due to be held on April 12 and 26 respectively, are two of the five “Monument” races of the cycling calendar with the Tour of Flanders, Milan-Sanremo and the Tour of Lombardy.

The Tour of Flanders and Milan-Sanremo have already been postponed. A new date has yet to be set for the races.

The final two stages of the UAE Tour were cancelled after two Italian participants tested positive for the coronavirus.

Four teams have pulled out of several cycling races in Italy.

The Giro d’Italia start on May 9 in Budapest has been postponed. A new start date will not be determined until at least April 3.

Meanwhile, British Cycling will furlough around a third of its staff in April and May due to the financial impact of the pandemic. 

On April 13, the Turkish Cycling Federation announced all cycling competitions to be held in Turkey until June have been postponed.

All scheduled activities until June 6 are postponed to a later date because of the coronavirus pandemic. New racing calendar will be announced later, the federation said in a statement.

Baseball

The final qualification tournament for the Olympics in Taiwan has been postponed from April to June.

Japan and South Korea professional league has postponed the start of the new season.

Major League Baseball (MLB), the US’s professional baseball league, suspended its “spring training”, a period in the off-season that features practices and exhibition games that allow trainers to test new players on different teams.

The MLB also delayed its opening day, which was scheduled for March 26, for at least two weeks. 

MLB games scheduled to be played in Mexico City and San Juan, Puerto Rico, are cancelled. 

  NCAA

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) cancelled scheduled games for both men and women on Thursday afternoon.

The NCAA organises all sports for athletes in university, an important league that showcases young talent to recruiters for professional sports in the US. 

The cancellation extends to all championships scheduled in the spring, including hockey, baseball and lacrosse.

Cricket

England’s two-match test series in Sri Lanka, which has been postponed and rescheduled for January next year, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) CEO Ashley de Silva said. England were scheduled to play tests in Galle and Colombo in March before the coronavirus outbreak.

The men’s Cricket World Cup Challenge League A, scheduled to begin on March 16 in Malaysia, has been postponed.

The start of the Indian Premier League T20 tournament (March 29) was postponed until April 15.

The Pakistan Cricket Board announced that Pakistan Super League matches in Karachi will be played with no spectators in the stadium.

England’s two-match test series in Sri Lanka scheduled to start on March 19 was postponed.

Australia’s proposed test tour of Bangladesh in June has been postponed and both boards will work together to find new dates to reschedule the series.

Judo

The International Judo Federation cancelled all Olympic qualification events through to the end of April.

Weightlifting

The Asian Championships, scheduled to take place in Uzbekistan from April 16 to 25, have been cancelled.

Winter sports

The International Ski Federation cancelled the final races of the men’s Alpine skiing World Cup.

The World Cup finals in Cortina were cancelled along with the last three women’s races in Are.

The women’s world ice hockey championships in Canada were cancelled.

The Ice Hockey World Championship scheduled for Switzerland in May was cancelled.

The speed skating world championships in Seoul were postponed until at least October.

The March 16-22 world figure skating championships in Montreal were cancelled.

The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) has cancelled the remainder of its season after temporarily suspending its playoffs.

Australian Rules

The AFL game between St Kilda Saints and Port Adelaide Power scheduled for May 31 in China has been moved to Melbourne.

NHL 

The National Hockey League, primarily based in the US but with teams from Canada, suspended its season indefinitely on March 12. 

Wrestling

The Asian Olympic qualifying event from March 27-29 was moved from Xi’an, China to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

On February 29, Kyrgyzstan withdrew as host.

Horse racing 

The Dubai World Cup, one of the world’s richest horse races and a premier annual sporting event in the United Arab Emirates, scheduled for March 28, has been postponed to next year, Dubai’s government media office tweeted on March 22.

The 146th running of the Kentucky Derby has been moved to September 5. It will be the first time the world-renowned horse race will not run on the first Saturday in May since 1945, when it was moved because of World World II.

Estimated revenue losses of various sports [Alia Chughtai/Al Jazeera]

Badminton

The final qualification tournament in Taiwan for the Olympics was put back from April to June 17-21, while the March 22-26 qualification event in Arizona was postponed.

Japan’s professional league postponed the start of the season.

Badminton’s Thomas and Uber Cup Finals being staged in Aarhus, Denmark, have been postponed from May 16-24 to August 15-23.

The biennial event features national teams.

The 2021 badminton World Championships will move from its August slot and begin in late November to avoid a clash with the rescheduled Tokyo Olympics next year, the game’s governing body said on May 1.

The tournament will be held from November 29 to December 5 in the Spanish city of Huelva, the Badminton World Federation (BWF) said in a statement.

Sumo

The Summer Grand Sumo Tournament has been postponed by two weeks from its scheduled May 10 start due to concerns over the coronavirus, according to the Japan Sumo Association.

The annual 15-day tournament at Tokyo’s Ryogoku Kokugikan is one of the six major sumo contests held in Japan every year. The Tokyo tournament is now scheduled to start on May 24, with the next competition to be held in Aichi Prefecture also delayed for two weeks.

Paralympics

The postponed Paralympic Games will run from August 24-September 5, 2021.

Canoeing

All events originally scheduled for May, including the Paracanoe World Championships, canoe sprint Olympic qualifiers, and the ICF canoe sprint World Cup have been cancelled.

Pre-Olympic canoe slalom training camps in Tokyo in May, June and July have all been cancelled.

The opening two ICF canoe slalom World Cups, set for June in Italy and France, have been postponed.

Swimming

The short course world championships, scheduled for December in Abu Dhabi, will now be staged from December 13-18, 2021, in the United Arab Emirates. 

The 2021 aquatics world championships in Fukuoka, Japan, will now be held from May 13-29, 2022, swimming’s governing body FINA said in a statement on May 4.

Canada’s Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic swimming trials have been rescheduled for next April, Swimming Canada said.

The trials, originally set for March 30 to April 5 in Toronto, were postponed on March 13 as part of efforts to control the spread of the novel coronavirus. They were rescheduled after the International Olympic Committee and Japan organisers postponed the 2020 Summer Games for one year.

The meet will be held at the same venue, the Toronto Pan Am Sports centre, but will be condensed into a five-day program from the seven days originally planned.

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[bigyack-com]

Art, treasure and jewel heists in Europe in recent times, listed - art and culture

A brazen burglary Monday at a German museum holding priceless treasures is another in a long history of daring European heists over the years.German police said it was too early to estimate the value of the items stolen from Dresden’s Green Vault, one of the world’s oldest museums, and museum officials called the objects “priceless.”Here’s a look at some other spectacular thefts in Europe in recent years:Swedish smash and grabIn a daring daytime heist, thieves in Sweden smashed glass show cases inside a cathedral and snatched 17th-century royal treasures estimated to be worth 65 million kronor ($7 million) last year.They made their getaway on stolen bicycles and then fled by motorboat via the vast system of lakes west of Stockholm.The two crowns and an orb were later discovered in a garbage bin north of Stockholm.Two men were convicted and imprisoned for the theft.The Italian JobIn January 2018, thieves stole precious Indian jewels from the famed Al Thani Collection that were on show at the Doge’s Palace in Venice, including a pendant featuring a 10-carat diamond.Surveillance footage showed one of the thieves calmly opening a showcase window, pocketing the gems and sauntering off. Police say the alarm was triggered only a minute later, giving the thieves time to escape.Croatian police later arrested four suspects, one of whom was believed to be linked to several major heists in Europe and the notorious, multinational “Pink Panther” gang of thieves.Golden CoinBurglars broke into Berlin’s Bode Museum in March 2017 and made off with a 100-kilogram (221-pound) Canadian gold coin known as the “Big Maple Leaf.”The suspects are believed to have smashed a protective case and then managed to lift the coin out of a museum window before fleeing along a rail track with their haul in a wheelbarrow. After getting away with it, they are accused of later cutting up the coin, valued at about 3.75 million euros ($4.33 million), and selling the pieces.Four men are currently on trial in the case — three accused of the break-in and a fourth, a security guard at the museum, on allegations he helped with their plan. They deny the charges.A Van Gogh HomecomingTwo paintings by Vincent van Gogh went back on display in Amsterdam in 2017 — more than 14 years after thieves ripped them off the walls of the Van Gogh Museum during an audacious nighttime raid.Italian police discovered the paintings, “View of the Sea at Scheveningen,” and “Congregation leaving the Reformed Church in Nuenen,” during a raid targeting Italian mobsters.Fashion week frightIn October 2016, robbers allegedly forced their way into the apartment where Kim Kardashian West was staying during Paris Fashion Week, tied her up and stole more than $10 million worth of jewelry.Ten people have been charged in the case. The alleged mastermind wrote the reality TV star an apology letter from his prison cell.She said the experience made her less materialistic.Offscreen drama at CannesCannes has a reputation not only for its film festival glamour but also for its dramatic heists.In 2015, thieves — one wearing an old-man mask — walked into the Cartier boutique on Cannes’ Croisette seaside promenade in the middle of the morning and walked out with millions of dollars’ worth of jewelry and watches.Then, in 2013, thieves stole Chopard jewelry from a hotel room safe during the festival, a crime that drew parallels to Sofia Coppola’s “The Bling Ring,” which was screening that year.And two months later, a lone gunman pulled off one of the biggest jewelry heists of all time, stealing $136 million worth of diamond jewelry from Cannes’ Carlton Hotel — a location for Alfred Hitchcock’s classic “To Catch a Thief.”Airport HeistsEuropean airports have provided a stage for some audacious jewel thefts.In a carefully planned 2013 heist, thieves cut through a fence at the Brussels airport, drove to a Switzerland-bound plane and snatched an estimated $50 million in diamonds.In 2005, thieves threatened guards and hijacked an armored car from Dutch carrier KLM’s cargo ramp at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport, making off with millions in diamonds and jewelry.Posh tricksters, cross-dressing crooksIn 2009, two elegantly dressed men walked into the Graff Diamond Store in London’s high-end Mayfair district and carried away necklaces, watches, rings and bracelets worth more than 40 million pounds ($51 million, at today’s exchange rate).While Christmas shoppers strolled outside the posh Harry Winston jewelry shop near Paris’ famed Champs-Elysees in 2008, armed thieves — some dressed as women and wearing wigs — entered the store and stole gems and jeweled watches worth up to $85 million.Popular ArtIn 2008, three men wearing ski masks walked into the Buehrle museum in Zurich a half-hour before closing time on a Sunday. While one used a pistol to force museum staff to lie on the floor, the two others swiped four paintings by Cezanne, Degas, Van Gogh and Monet worth $163 million. Shocked police called it one of the biggest heists in European history. The Van Gogh and Monet paintings were recovered.A year before the Zurich heist, two Picasso paintings worth nearly $66 million and a drawing were stolen from the Paris home of the artist’s granddaughter in an overnight theft.In 2004, two Edvard Munch masterpieces, “The Scream” and “Madonna,” were taken from the Munch Museum in Oslo, Norway, by three men wielding firearms in a daylight raid. The paintings, insured for $141 million, were recovered with little damage two years later.In 2003, a $65-million Leonardo da Vinci painting was stolen from Drumlanrig Castle in southern Scotland by two men who joined a public tour and overpowered a guide. It was recovered four years later.(This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.)Follow more stories on Facebook and Twitter Source link Read the full article

[passionate-baker]

Exploring Copenhagen, Denmark

This coming September, I will have known one of my best friends for twelve years. That’s half of my lifetime &, I would say, a rather impressively long time to still enjoy another person’s company. We’ve spent a heck of a lot of time together during our twelve years, so much so that our teachers used to make comments to our parents about us being glued together at the hip. That’s normal though, right? Our school days went like this: if one of us wanted to go somewhere, then the other followed suit. Even now, years after school has ended, we can usually be found together most of the time. Probably the biggest example of this was that time I decided to walk across Spain on the Camino de Santiago & I didn’t even really have to convince her into coming with me, she just did. 

As far as I can remember, we’ve journeyed abroad no less than nine times together, & visited a total of seventeen cities, not including travelling within Ireland. Quite frankly, I think she’s a keeper. 

A few months ago, we realised that it had been close to three years since our last trip abroad together. This was enough to prompt us to start looking up flights, accommodation, cities etc. Spain, Croatia, Poland? Denmark? Denmark stuck, & everything fell perfectly into place for Copenhagen. It was decided. 

The Danish capital is one of the most beautiful cities I’ve ever been in, & I speak for the two of us when I say with absolute certainty that we loved every single second of our time there. We spent (nearly) all day every day being amazed by the beauty around every single corner. Cobbled streets, pastel painted buildings, rose bushes, bikes as far as the eye can see, cinnamon rolls, amazing coffee, beautiful Danish people everywhere (why is everyone so blonde & perfect in Denmark!?), quirky parks & statues, an incredible atmosphere, & an overall sense of calmness & safety. I know that last one sounds a little bizarre, but I don’t think I’ve ever felt so safe in a city - everyone just seems so laid back & casual. 

Heaps of photos & recommendations on where to go, what to do, where to drink, & where to eat below!

Stay 

Copenhagen Downtown Hostel // this is the same place I stayed the first time I visited Copenhagen, and I still loved it this time ‘round. It’s a casual chilled out kind of place & the staff are super lovely. We stayed in a 4-bed female only dorm during our stay & it was perfect for what we needed - it was quiet & clean & cozy. Added bonus: you get a free dinner thrown in when you book through their website & also the alcohol is gloriously cheap. 

Do

The Round Tower // this was one of the things that somehow eluded me on my first trip to Copenhagen a couple of years ago, so I was pretty eager to visit the tower this time around. It turned out to be one of our most favourite things that we did during our time in the city, we completely loved it. The price of a ticket is dirt cheap - something like 3 euro - and it is beyond worth it. Instead of the usual pain of having to climb up a billion steps on a tight spiraling staircase, the path to the top of the Tower is a welcoming spiral slope. 

Rosenborg Palace // the whole truth: we only wandered down to Rosenborg Palace because we spied it from the top of The Round Tower & thought it was high time we visited a pretty garden. Wandering into the gardens is like wandering into a movie scene set in Paris - there’s something about the roofs of the surrounding buildings and the people picnicking with glasses of rosé & baguettes and the other people celebrating a birthday with bunting wrapped from tree to tree that just makes it all feel so surreal in the best way ever. During our walk of the grounds we came across the royal guard about to make their journey over to Amelienborg Palace for the changing of the guard.

Amelienborg Palace // we didn’t plan on paying to visit the inside of the palace - although I’m sure it’s worth it - so we planned our day around going to see the changing of the guards, which happens on the grounds of the residence every day at noon. The (what look like) toy soldiers come marching into the centre of the square & slowly make their way around to each of the four houses to change guards while the crowds excitedly snap away. Coincidentally, the day we decided to visit was also the King & Queen’s 50th wedding anniversary, so the place was extra jammed with people! 

Botanical Gardens // it was maybe definitely a bad idea for us visit the Botanic Gardens when we did, as there was four too many drinks the previous night & the sheer heat inside the glasshouse nearly killed us both. It’s this huge big beautiful old greenhouse that makes you feel like you’re walking through the forest & there’s this gorgeous cast-iron spiral staircase that leads you up to a top level so you can walk amongst the super tall plants (which was definitely the worst idea we had ever because there was even less air up there). After our glasshouse experience we spent some time breathing in some quality fresh air in the gardens, which were most delightful. 

Krusemyntegade // you might find yourself wondering why on earth I’m recommending you visit a random road well out of the city. Well, if you’re anything like me (or half of the other people on Instagram), then this is definitely a road you’ll want to see. We affectionately started to refer to it as Instagram Road - pastel colours as far as the eye can see, roses crawling up the side of nearly every house, bikes parked nonchalantly all over the place, & an odd bench here & there for sitting back & taking it all in. It’s basically Copenhagen’s version of St. Luke’s Mews.

The Little Mermaid // what trip to Copenhagen would be complete without getting to visit The Little Mermaid? She’s located a bit further afield than most of the other attractions, but just think of it as a Hans Christian Anderson type pilgrimage. Of course, the statue is a huge attraction in the city, so don’t expect to have her all to yourself - I took five photos during our time there: in three of the photos it looks like she’s being attacked by a swarm of tourist canoe boat-ers, there are some miscellaneous heads popping up in two of them, & in the last one she’s (rather rudely) having her nipple tweaked by some drunken man.

Agnete & the Merman // you have to hunt this statue down - it is so cool! It’s a group of statues under the water at Slotsholm Canal & it never ceases to fascinate me. Hard to see on a sunny day, but so worth checking out. 

Nyhavn // we were pretty lucky during our visit, because we had to walk through Nyhavn basically anytime we wanted to get anywhere. There’s something magical about this old harbour - there’s jazz music & a nice atmosphere in the air at all times. It’s also one of those places you just have to visit to get that quintessential Copenhagen photo. 

Canal Tour // this was my second time doing a canal tour in Copenhagen & even this time around I loved every second. Our canal tour left from Nyhavn, where there are a couple of companies offering different routes. We did the standard one that brought us out & around Christianshavn, as well as past a few of the main attractions - Amelienborg Palace, the Opera House, the Black Diamond Library, & The Little Mermaid. 

Tivoli Gardens // a whole day out that is totally worth the money. There are (I think) a few different options for tickets, but we bought a band that gave us entry into the gardens, which means that you can sit around & relax & watch whatever ballet or folk dancing that happens to be on at the open air stages and also gave us unlimited rides on every ride in the park. The gardens themselves have peacocks roaming free, fairy lights strewn overhead, & plenty of restaurants, cafes, & bars to keep everyone happy. We spent our day working our way through the map of the rides, going back to the ones we liked 2-5 times (getting our money’s worth), drinking beer, watching ballet, & exploring the (small but cool) aquarium. 

Magstræde // no, this is not just another beautifully photogenic street, it is the oldest surviving street in Copenhagen. The street (which still has its original cobbling!) was two seconds from where we were staying, & we were entirely unable to pass up an opportunity to walk down it at every chance we had. 

Drink

Original Coffee // confession: good coffee shops are the first thing I investigate when planning my trips away. Original Coffee was top of my list, & we certainly weren’t disappointed. Added bonus: the branch at Illum shopping centre is located on the top floor, so you can sit outside & watch the world go by beneath you. 

Espresso Roasters // admittedly, the only reason we stopped into ER was because we had been traipsing all over town looking for a coffee shop that was meant to do the best cinnamon rolls ever, but we couldn’t find it & we were totally desperate & on the verge of becoming hangry. Turns out that the cinnamon rolls here are fab! Heated ever so slightly & perfectly spiced.

Husted Vin // we didn’t actually get to go to Husted Vin, but I’m adding it to the list because I want you to go & tell me how it is. Typically, the one day we had planned to go there it was closed, but it had been open every single time we’d walked past previously. 

Biergarten @ Tivoli Gardens // I’ve said it before & I’ll say it again: I have this thing with Germany, which pretty much means I love all things German, especially beer & pretzels. I’m only a little bit ashamed to tell you that we visited the Beirgarten twice during the handful of hours we spent at the Gardens - both times indulging in a 1/2 litre tankard of beer & just once devouring a hot freshly baked salty pretzel. We regret nothing. Added bonus: going on roller-coasters a little tipsy is the most fun thing to do ever! 

Eat

Sonny // we walked past this hipster looking cafe on our way into the city on our first morning & immediately made plans to go back for breakfast the next day. The interior is gorgeous, the menu is full of health options (as is every other menu in Copenhagen), the music is very hipster-chic, & the coffee is wonderful. Added bonus: they offer a jasmine & orange iced tea, which is totally amazing & definitely a good choice. 

Atelier September // similar to Sonny, the menu is full of health. We both opted for the ‘Grapefruit & Blueberries with granola’ breakfast, which certainly left me feeling healthy. Luckily, they also had croissants & poppy seed danishes pumped full of butter to cancel out the health side of things, & for this we were truly grateful. It’s worth visiting here to see the space alone -- a gorgeous open room with communal tables & an open work station -- but also for the amazing coffee & mismatching ceramics. 

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[biofunmy]

Rebirth of a Parisian Legend

PARIS — “This has always been a house of pleasures — of gastronomy, of the flesh, of drinking, smoking and seduction, of conversation, literature and the arts,” said Benjamin Patou, the jovial, workaholic 42-year-old entrepreneur who has been described in the French media as the king of Parisian night life.

He also is the latest owner of what once was one of Paris’s most risqué institutions, the restaurant Lapérouse, whose grand reopening celebration is scheduled for Wednesday.

“It’s a legendary house,” he said. “It’s had 150 lives.” Now it is on its 151st.

The christening during men’s fashion week promises to be an epic event, with a masked ball (“it’s going to be ‘Eyes Wide Shut’,” Mr. Patou said jokingly), nearly 500 guests, torchbearers, costumed actors and a faux elephant stationed in front of the restaurant’s facade at 51 Quai des Grands Augustins. The film director Claude Lelouch is to be on hand with a crew to capture the scene for his next movie, “Les Fantômes de Lapérouse.” And the author Frédéric Beigbeder is working on a collection of short stories about the place, to be published by Albin Michel.

After all, the revival of a fashion house is an old story. But the rebirth of a house more than 250 years old, with a world-class cellar of Burgundy wines; a hotbed of politics, literature and the arts from the time Jules Lapérouse took it over and gave it his name in the mid-19th century well into the 20th; a place that Victor Hugo, Émile Zola, Honoré de Balzac, Colette, Marcel Proust, Ernest Hemingway and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor visited for its famous sauces? That’s something to get even the most jaded style-setter excited.

The bar area and two dining rooms were redesigned by Laura Gonzalez, the interior designer behind such projects as the Pierre Hermé and L’Occitane collaboration on the Champs-Élysées and the revamping of Régine’s. She also refreshed the seven salons and created a new boudoir-like space from a former back office. The whole now resembles a Venetian palazzo compressed into the Orient Express.

The table dressings, menu illustrations and “L” logo that appears on floral china by Bernardaud, frosted glass doors, chair backs and carpeting are the work of Cordelia de Castellane, who also is the creative director of Baby Dior and Dior Maison.

The chef Jean-Pierre Vigato, formerly of the Michelin-starred restaurant Apicius, is in charge of the stove; desserts are by the pastry chef Christophe Michalak.

Benjamin PatouCreditMatthieu Salvaing

Mr. Patou is the founder and president of the restaurant and nightspot empire known as the Moma Group (other venues include Manko Paris, a restaurant with a racy after-midnight cabaret, and Victoria, whose downstairs club was designed by Lenny Kravitz). Moma, a privately held company, doesn’t release revenue figures but Mr. Patou said it made 80 million euros (or $89.8 million) in 2018.

The Berluti chief executive Antoine Arnault, scion of the LVMH founder and chairman Bernard Arnault and partner of the model Natalia Vodianova, is a minority owner of Lapérouse, the first time he has invested in a restaurant.

“Lapérouse is a myth and as such immediately brings to my mind both the heritage and storytelling of a beautiful Parisian sleeping beauty,” Mr. Arnault said. “I find that it has many similarities with my activities within the [LVMH] group, where creative talent and heritage go hand in hand.”

Mr. Patou first set eyes on Lapérouse in his 20s, during a brief stint as a press officer there. He has been out to conquer it ever since.

“It was a coup de foudre,” he said, using the French phrase that is the equivalent of falling head over heels. “I told myself that someday it would be mine.”

Last year, he landed his prize, buying the place from the entrepreneurs Jérôme Schabanel and Grégory Lentz. Mr. Patou declined to elaborate on the purchase and renovation costs, saying only that Lapérouse has been his most ambitious project to date.

The corridors still feel as though La Belle Otéro, the legendary Belle Époque courtesan, is lounging right around the corner. Her name is emblazoned on the smallest of the intimate dining salons, one just large enough for a table, two chairs and a love seat. On its walls are restored old paintings of monkeys at play, embossed leather wallpaper and one of the scratched-on Venetian mirrors for which Lapérouse is famous.

Generations of wealthy and influential power brokers came here to woo women not their wives — and restaurant legend has it that demimondaines who received diamonds from their lovers used to test the gems’ authenticity by scratching the mirrors’ surfaces. Over the years it became a ritual and among the guests who have scrawled for posterity are Madonna, Amber Heard, George Clooney and Kate Moss, whose contribution reads: “It’s 2 late 2 go 2 bed.”

In couture’s golden era of the 1950s and ’60s some women, too, would slip over to Lapérouse to see and to seduce without being seen. The restaurant’s published history includes Hubert de Givenchy recounting a visit to study the sumptuous décor for a loyal client who had requested matching dresses in gold, red and green, but with zippers in back so her lovers could remove them easily.

Lapérouse became one of the first Michelin three-star restaurants in Paris, in 1933 (the other was La Tour d’Argent). But it lost its luster as the century wore on, becoming something like the Rainbow Room of Paris, where well-to-do families would celebrate their young passing the baccalaureate examination, or an engagement. Mr. Patou recalled bringing a date here; years later, he said, he returned to celebrate his son’s First Communion.

Fashion brands have used the place for private dinners, presentations and shows. Now, presumably, they’ll be back in force. And next spring, as part of the renovation of the Hôtel de la Marine on the Place de la Concorde, Mr. Patou and Mr. Arnault plan to unveil a Café Lapérouse flagship, with a menu developed by Mr. Michalak. It will be in company with a new Moma Group restaurant overseen by the chef Jean-François Piège, of Le Grand Restaurant, La Poule au Pot and Clover Grill.

All of which illustrates why Mr. Patou said he considered Lapérouse “the observatory for Parisian life. Anything can happen here. There was the Revolution, the Commune, the flood of 1910, May 1968. You could recount the entire history of Paris and of France without going anywhere else.”

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Michael Jackson paraded his friendships with boys and fans ignored it

Leaving Neverland, shown on Channel 4 over two nights, has delivered many shocking revelations about Michael Jackson’s grooming and alleged sexual abuse of two young fans who idolised him, and were terribly betrayed.

But one of the most shocking elements of the documentary has been the fact that the singer was going about his business in plain sight.

Time and again we saw Jackson surrounded by grown-ups in the company of both of his accusers, Wade Robson and James Safechuck. He was seen hopping out of limos, or going into hotels or onto private planes closely followed by a pre-pubescent boy — generally dressed identically to him.

Michael Jackson and James Safechuck were undeniably close

Sometimes, he was holding hands with the child, at other times putting his arm around the boys’ shoulders. Both Robson and Safechuck were also brought out on stage by Jackson during his tours.

He could hardly have made his infatuation with them more public.

Safechuck met Jackson in 1987 when he was ten and was picked to appear with the singer in a Pepsi commercial. Jackson invited him along on the Bad tour with him the following year and they shared a hotel room while his parents slept down the hall. Safechuck says that he was being abused by the singer, and that it happened more than 100 times, often at Neverland.

Meanwhile, Australian dancer Wade Robson met Jackson in 1987 when he was five years old after he won a dance competition when the singer was touring Australia.

Jackson invited the youngster to join him on stage. Two years later, when the family were on holiday in America, they got in touch with Jackson and he invited them to spend time at Neverland.

Robson’s mother, father and sister went on a road trip to the Grand Canyon and at Jackson’s request Robson stayed in Neverland with Jackson, when, he says, the sexual abuse began. He was seven years old.

Wade Robson has accused Michael Jackson of sexual abuse when he stayed at Neverland at the age of seven

Yet the parents of these boys — who were rewarded with gifts of gold watches, cars, loans of money and even a home — did not see the alleged abuse.

As Safechuck’s mother Stephanie said: ‘For him to want to be our friend, we’re like, oh my God, how lucky are we? He flies you first class, he has a limo waiting at the airport, amazing! It’s a life of the rich and famous.’

Globally famous, Michael Jackson had no chance of coming or going unnoticed, of course.

But he made no effort to travel separately to ‘his boys’ — and Robson and Safechuck were not the only two.

As these pictures show, boys were taken around the world by Jackson, who was seen treating them to ‘anything you want’ shopping sprees in toy shops and theme parks.

Of course, some of those boys defend him still, and say nothing untoward ever happened.

Michael Jackson and Brett Barnes hung out together at Euro Disney in 1993. It was reported that he was Jackson’s cousin but they are not related

But still the association was so brazen that it played into the ‘Wacko Jacko’ narrative.

Parents were told, not least by the singer himself, that he was at heart just a 12-year-old boy who loved cartoons and other children.

If they were capable of believing this then they could accept their boys being asked to ‘sleep over’ with the star in presidential suites in the best hotels around the world, while they were placed in a room at the other end of the residence, and still maintain a belief that whatever was going on was entirely innocent. At least five pre-pubescent boys were chosen to join Jackson on tour over a nine-year period.

But what, you may ask, of all of the adults — including those at his record label — who didn’t trouble to ask what exactly was going on? So far, there is only silence from Sony, his record label.

You also wonder if we will ever hear from the lawyers, who Wade Robson and James Safechuck said last night ran them through pretend questioning on the subject of what went on in the sleepovers, in order to protect Jackson. Jackson himself, we should remember, reacted with hysteria to the suggestion of paedophilia, as did his fans. He insisted on his ‘complete innocence’ and called the allegations ‘incredible, terrible’.

Jordy Chandler was another young fan who looked and dressed like his hero Michael Jackson. His parents sued the singer for ‘repeatedly committing sexual battery’

Jackson was, though, surely inviting disaster by associating closely and repeatedly with young male fans. One of these was Brett Barnes, who was seen coming through Heathrow with the singer in 1992 and hanging out with him in Euro Disney in 1993.

It was reported that he was Jackson’s ‘cousin’ although they are not related.

A Jackson fan, he had contacted him by letter and started spending time at Neverland when he was nine.

Barnes admitted that they shared a bed but said that they took separate sides. ‘It’s this big bed . . . and I was on one side and he was on the other,’ he said. He added: ‘He kissed you like you kiss your mother. It’s not unusual for him to hug, kiss and nuzzle up to you and stuff.’

At around this time Jackson also met Jordy Chandler — another young fan who looked and dressed like him, but this time the association ended in disaster.

Chandler’s step-father ran a car rental agency and met Jacko after he broke down on a highway in LA in 1992. He got his wife to bring Jordy — a huge fan — to meet the star and they exchanged phone numbers. The family, including Jordan’s sister, were eventually invited to come and stay at Neverland.

Jackson struck up a friendship with actor Macaulay Culkin who has always maintained the singer’s innocence

In May 1993, Jackson took Jordy and his mother to Monaco for the World Music Awards and the two of them shared a room. June Chandler was given a diamond bracelet by the singer.

In September 1993 Chandler’s parents sued Jackson for ‘repeatedly committing sexual battery on their son’.

Jackson was traumatised. When the first complaints about him were made public, he proposed marriage to friend Lisa Marie Presley after a series of phone calls in which, she later said, he seemed ‘high, incoherent and delusional’.

After legal wrangling, he settled the case with Jordy out of court in 1994. A reported £11.4 million went into trust for Jordy, £1.1 million to each of his parents and £3.8 million to the lawyers. His legal team said that it was ‘in no way an admission of guilt’.

Jordy refused to cooperate with a police investigation, and it was dropped. The director of Leaving Neverland, Dan Reed, said: ‘Jordan’s not easily accessible. We did a bit of sleuthing to try and find him but decided to not push that any further as he appears to want to stay hidden, for now.’ You might assume that after the scandal Jackson would have dropped his habit of taking young male fans on tour with him, but you would be wrong.

One young fan Michael Jacobshagen says that he spent three weeks with Jackson on tour in 1997 and more time in 1998, mostly in his hotel room.

Jacobshagen, now 35, says that Jackson called him his ‘Rubba Rubba boy’ and would grind his body against him.

He says that the singer gave him a book containing pictures of naked young men and inscribed it to his ‘special friend’ and ‘rubba rubba friend’.

He believes that the singer was testing him and seeing how far he could go. Jacobshagen adds that Jackson bought his mother a Cartier watch.

Young fan Michael Jacobshagen says he spent three weeks in a hotel room with the pop star

Another association was struck up with Omer Bhatti, a Norweigian dance fan, who met Jackson at a hotel in Tunis while the singer was on the HIStory tour in 1996.

Jackson was so taken with the boy — who was 11 years old at the time — that Bhatti joined him for the rest of the tour, coming on stage with Jackson and travelling with him. The friendship grew so deep that Omer joined Jackson in Neverland full-time. In 1997, Omer’s mother Pia and father Riz were given jobs by Jackson, as nanny and driver respectively.

Omer started going by the name Michael Joseph Winter and was raised as ‘one of his family’ alongside son Prince, born in 1997, daughter Paris born in 1998, both to nurse Debbie Rowe, and son Blanket born in 2002 to a surrogate.

Rowe never lived at Neverland, but Omer did. Indeed, he was one of the Jackson associates who were at home in Neverland in 2003 when it was raided by police.

The raid was sparked after Jackson boasted in a Martin Bashir documentary that he regularly had sleepovers with children, including cancer sufferer Gavin Arvizo, a fan.

Jackson said: ‘It’s not sexual. We’re going to sleep. I tuck them in. It’s very charming.’

Police found a collection of pornographic material at the property which included books and videos. Jackson was arrested and charged with committing lewd and lascivious acts with a child under the age of 14.

Gavin Arzino regularly had sleepovers with Michael Jackson, as was revealed in Martin Bashir’s documentary

During Jackson’s trial, Arvizo and his younger brother testified that the singer showed them pornography and made them drink ‘Jesus juice’ — wine. Both said Jackson masturbated in front of them and molested Arvizo on multiple occasions.

In footage screened as part of Leaving Neverland, he said: ‘He showed me, he wanted to show me how to masturbate. 

Then I said no and he said he would do it for me.’ (At the trial Brett Barnes, who toured with Jackson as a child, testified that the singer had ‘absolutely not’ molested him. Asked if Jackson had ever touched him in a sexual way, he said: ‘Never. I wouldn’t stand for it.’)

Jackson was found not guilty of all charges on June 13, 2005.

Omer Bhatti, a Norwegian dancer, lived at Neverland with Jackson

He then went into an extended period of travelling with his children, their nanny — and Omer Bhatti, now a teenager. Although Bhatti’s parents returned to Norway he went with Jackson to Bahrain and Ireland.

In a recent interview with a Norwegian magazine, Bhatti said: ‘Michael was in many ways very innocent. One cannot, of course, expect everyone else to have the same views on things, and he was too naive and was hurt by being too kind. For him, certain things were natural and completely innocent, something not necessarily everyone else would see in the same way.’

He was in the front row of the funeral with Jackson’s family and remains close to the children.

Home Alone star Macaulay Culkin, who struck up a friendship with Michael Jackson when he cast him in the video for Black Or White in 1991, also defended him.

He said during Jackson’s 2005 trial that allegations against the singer were ‘absolutely ridiculous’. He said that between the ages of nine and 14 he slept in Jackson’s bed a dozen or more times but said that nothing inappropriate happened.

In an interview this year he said: ‘At the end of the day, it’s almost easy to try and say it was like weird or whatever, but it wasn’t, because it made sense, we were friends.’

His daughter Paris this week has called the allegations ‘lies’, while his brother Marlon said there was ‘not one piece of evidence’.

But there’s no doubt that the sleepovers, the touring, the jewellery and the dozens of pictures of Jackson with the boys depict a deeply troubling obsession.

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How to Get Around Belgium Like a Local

01 of 04

Belgium Tourism Map Showing Rail Lines

James Martin

Belgium, grouped with Luxembourg and the Netherlands to make up the Benelux countries, is a fascinating tourism destination. It's a required side trip on the Grand Tour for beer and chocolate lovers. The landscape is a lush green, and it's flat for easy rural walking. There are plenty of castles and gardens to keep the traveler enamored with the medieval period busy.

Art lovers can be kept busy viewing the likes of the masters Peter Paul Rubens, Sir Antony van Dyck and Rene Magritte. Adolphe Sax, born in Dinant, invented the famous jazz instrument that takes his name–and jazz has become increasingly popular in Belgium in recent years.

And talk about diversity! Belgium is divided into three regions, each with language, culinary and cultural differences. The Flemish Region or Flanders occupies the north, the Walloon Region or Wallonia occupies the south, and the Brussels-Capital Region is central to Belgium.

Belgium doesn't seem to take the standard prizes in the “What's the best place in Europe to visit?” popularity sweepstakes, which is why I tend to think of it as Europe's Best Kept Travel Secret.

Compact Belgium

One of the great things about visiting Belgium is its diminutive size and the interesting cities crammed together so they're just a short train ride from each other. You won't spend a lot of time (or money) getting from one destination to another. Plus, it's very easy to get to London and Paris as well as other destinations in Germany, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.

The Thalys high speed train whisks you from Brussels to Paris in about an hour and a half. Brussels to London takes a little over two hours. You can be in Cologne, Germany from Brussels on the cheaper normal trains in under three hours.

Belgium Cities and towns

The major cities popular with tourists are Brussels, Bruges, and Ghent, and Antwerp, followed by smaller cities like Liège, Dinant, Damme, Mechelen, and Mon.

Belgium is also a focal point for World War I sites, many including remnants of the rather brutal trench warfare as in the Trench of Death in Dixmude.

Where to Stay

Belgium has a wide range of accommodations. There are usually hotels near train stations, many budget, a few seedy. You may inspect a hotel before committing to it. There are many hostels in larger cities like Brussels.

Belgium has many self-catering accommodations, from small apartments to sprawling villas for large families and groups. Self-catering can save money over renting hotel rooms, especially for families. HomeAway lists almost 400 vacation rentals in Belgium (book direct).

Farm stays are popular with those who like the rural environment; we enjoyed our stay at Hoeve Spreeuwenburg.

What to Eat and Drink in Belgium

Frites -or the misnamed “french” fries. Pretty much the national dish, except for the superb waterzooi. You have them with mayonnaise. Find: The Best Belgian Frites

Waterzooi-from a Flemish word meaning “simmering water” comes a hearty stew of local fish (or chicken) with vegetables and herbs, often enriched by a trio of the kitchen god's best: butter, egg yolks and cream.

Carbonnades – meat cooked with brown beer, the national dish of Belgium. (Cabonnades Flamandes recipe)

Belgian Endive – White Gold, an endive kept in darkness for most of its life. Often served braised (recipe)

Chocolate – Belgian Chocolate! Yes, it goes without saying. See: The Best Belgian Chocolate Shops Travel Guide

Beer – Aficionados of Bud Lite need not read further. The rest of you who like variety and flavor must try one of these: Lambic Ale, Abbey and Trappist Ale, Witbier (wheat), Sour Ale, Brown Ale, Amber Ale, or Strong Golden Ale. You can even order Pilsner. See: Belgian Beer Styles and Food Pairings.

Languages

The language spoken in the northern region of Flanders speak Dutch. People in the southern region, Wallonia, speak French. German is spoken in the East near the German Border. English is widely spoken in main tourist areas.

If you would like to learn a few words of Dutch, there are online resources enabling you to do so. One of them is SpeakDutch.

Transportation to and within Belgium

Brussels Airport, east of Brussels, is the only international airport in Belgium. “Taxis with a taximeter are permanently available in front of the arrivals hall. The fare from the airport to the city centre of Brussels is normally around € 45. Licensed taxis can be recognized by the blue and yellow emblem. Travellers are advised to avoid unlicensed taxis!” There is also bus service.

Getting to Belgium – By Train

The Eurostar goes between Brussels and London and fast TGV trains link Brussels with Paris and Amsterdam. There is a Benelux rail pass available as well as one which adds France, and one which adds Germany (buy direct). See Our Belgium Map and Travel Essentials for more detailed transportation information.

Belgium is served by an extensive rail system as you can see in the map above. The Belgian Railway is called the SNCB and its website is here. Many discounts and passes are offered to the tourist or occasional traveler.

The fast trains in Belgium are the TGV trains. They run on three routes shown in red on the map. The red Thalys high-speed train links Paris to Amsterdam, Brussels, Cologne and Dusseldorf.

Railpasses: A Benelux Tourrail Pass is good for five days unlimited rail travel throughout Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands within a one month period. Two adults traveling together get a discount. The Youth Pass will save money for folks younger than 26. A France-Belgium-Luxembourg-Netherlands Pass is also available.

The Eurostar will take you quickly from London to Brussels and other cities in Belgium.

There is direct bus transportation from the airport to Antwerp, Eindhoven (Sabena) and to Rotterdam (Virgin Express).

There are about 150,000 miles of highways in Belgium. You will need a car to take you to the smaller villages.

When to Go

Belgium enjoys a moderate climate. It rains frequently but for short durations in most of Belgium. For an overview of climate throughout the year in some of Belgium's most popular destinations see the interactive map at Belgium Travel Weather.

Etiquette and Culture in Belgium

Visitors to Belgium might be concerned about cultural habits and etiquette, especially when business is part of the plan. Executive Planet has information on the most common situations that might get you in trouble.

For insight into the Belgian identity see: Belgium: Society, Character, and Culture.

Restaurants in Belgium

A restaurant in Belgium is a pretty elegant eating place. If you're looking for something a little more informal, look for a bistro, café, restaurant-café, or brasserie. While food is relatively expensive in Belgium, you can also find broodjeswinkel (sandwich shops), or pannekoekhuije (pancake houses) offering good bargains in food.

Lunch is generally served from 12 to 3pm and dinner from 7 to 10 pm.

A “menu” refers to the special of the day.

See the food section of our Belgium article for what to look for in the way of food and drink.

Service charges are included in hotel, restaurant, shopping bills and taxi fares. Belgians commonly round up the total amount to determine the tip.

Alison Wellner, our guide to Culinary travel, recommends the 6 Belgian Food Experiences for Travelers.

Currency in Belgium

The currency in Belgium is the Euro. At the time the Euro was adopted, its value was set at 44.3399 Belgian Francs.

Continue to 2 of 4 below.

02 of 04

Belgian Chocolate and How It Became Popular

James Martin

You have checked into your hotel. Bags have been dumped on the bed, a map has been procured from the front desk, and off you go.

It won't be more than 5 minutes before you will encounter a shop with things made of chocolate. Yes, there are little shells like you'll encounter in Guylian chocolates–but there are way more tempting ways to market chocolate for some people: if you don't want your children to gander upon the lusty wonders as you see in the picture, you may need an opaque shopping bag to throw over their heads. Belgians do not flee, especially from breasts.

Belgians make a relatively pure chocolate, but so does Italy. There's a reason you think of Belgian chocolate before you think of Italian chocolate. First of all there are over 2,130 chocolate shops in little Belgium. Then there's consumption:

“According to the International Cocoa Organization, Belgium ranks number two in per capita consumption of chocolate, with Belgians enjoying an average of 11.03 kilograms per year.” ~ Belgium Chocolate.

During the 17th century Spain ruled Belgium. The Spanish consumed chocolate as a drink from chocolate they got in South America.

Once the Belgians got a taste for it, they looked for their own source. Remember the deep, dark, Belgian Congo? Yep, they exploited it for cocoa beans.

Neuhaus, Belgium's first chocolate shop, opened in Brussels in 1857. They're still kicking, and you can even order their chocolate from the US: Neuhaus Chocolates.

  Continue to 3 of 4 below.

03 of 04

Antwerp Central: The Railroad Cathedral

James Martin

It wasn't so long ago that railway stations weren't tall sheds or malls with shopping and a jumble of train tracks. Even in the 1970s there were some great, elegant restaurants in some of Europe's train stations. To go to the station wasn't all a burden but an adventure.

The station that's stood out to frequent travelers is Antwerp's central station. Built between 1895 and 1905, it replaced a wooden station built in 1854 by Auguste Lambeau.

The station is surrounded by diamond and gold shops. If that wasn't enough to be reverential about, the 44-meter high glass vault reaching toward the heavens was designed by the architect J. Van Asperen.

You should visit, even if you're not going anywhere. But then again, there are compelling cities not so far from Antwerp to explore. Look at the chart of departing trains. Dreaming is planning, too.

You could, after all, head to Rotterdam to buy a warm Belgian waffle with chocolate melted on top

The Railway cathedral was recently updated, the renovation started in 1993 was completed 16 years later–in 2009. This, like the chocolate, horses, mussels in great, steaming pots, and long, rambling countryside walks are things about Belgium to remember.

Continue to 4 of 4 below.

04 of 04

Walking and Biking in the Belgian Countryside

James Martin

The picture you see above shows you just about all you need to know about the Belgian countryside near the Netherlands border. There are those horses. They are everywhere. The ground is flat. The polder landscape holds a secret: amongst those trees in the background there are waterways, and many of the waterways had tow paths which are now bike and trekking paths that criss-cross the country, even ​between big cities. Here are some resources:

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In France, Jean Paul Gaultier Styles the Euro

A Gallic rooster in a Breton sweater, designed by Jean Paul Gaultier for the Monnaie de Paris, or Paris Mint. © Jean-Marc Martin

PARIS — Over his 40-year career, the fashion designer Jean Paul Gaultier has had his share of odd requests but until last year, he had never been asked to dress a coin.

His imagination has produced outrageous concepts like fitting Madonna into a pointy conical bra, slipping the bearded transgender Eurovision winner Conchita Wurst into a couture dress and sending models down a runway lined with menorahs for his fall 1993 Chic Rabbis collection.

Still, when the Monnaie de Paris called, Mr. Gaultier was taken aback. The oldest institution in France, which produces the country’s coinage, wanted the veteran bad boy of fashion to design a limited-edition set of coins.

“It was such a surprising proposition that I had no choice but to accept,” Mr. Gaultier said.

The Monnaie de Paris, or Paris Mint, dates back 12 centuries — to the year 864 — when Charles the Bald, grandson of Charlemagne, ordered the creation of a coining workshop in Paris to serve as the country’s foremost mint.

Mr. Gaultier at an event in May in Cannes, France. © Valérie Hache/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

In 2010, intending to spotlight its heritage and exceptional savoir-faire, the mint began asking the best craftsmen in France to produce limited-edition coins.

Some, like Mr. Gaultier’s, would have wide circulation. Others, produced with the label Excellence à la Française, would appeal primarily to collectors and connoisseurs of craftsmanship; its participants have included Cartier, Baccarat, Van Cleef & Arpels, and the porcelain company Manufacture Nationale de Sèvres.

“The idea was to marry two different know-hows to produce new objects,” Christophe Beaux, then the chief executive of the mint, said in an interview last year. (Aurélien Rousseau now holds the post.)

La France par Jean Paul Gaultier, as the new collection was called, was introduced to the public in March, with some additional pieces released in September. The designs reflected the designer’s signature mix of irreverence and humor: the Eiffel Tower wrapped in a corset, a leggy model dressed in Napoleon’s First Consul uniform, a pair of musclebound sailors in Gallic striped sweaters arm wrestling, a corset-wearing hen dancing with a Gallic rooster in a Breton top, and a corseted punk Marianne (the female figure that is a symbol of the French Republic) kicking up her cancan skirt before the Moulin Rouge.

From the Gaultier collection, a corseted punk Marianne (the female figure that is a symbol of the French Republic) kicking up her cancan skirt before the Moulin Rouge. © Jean-Marc Martin

The collection included 25,000 200-euro gold coins, 25,000 €50 colorized silver coins, 50,000 €50 plain silver coins and 1.34 million €10 coins.

“Creative freedom is very important to me,” Mr. Gaultier said. “To my surprise, I discovered at La Monnaie a place that was both creative and free. It is a fascinating place that promotes tradition yet functions with cutting-edge technology.”

Showcasing its traditions and technology for the public was part of the reason that, in 2011, the mint began extensive renovations of its site on the Quai de Conti along the Seine, in the Sixth Arrondissement. (Louis XV ordered the construction, and the mint moved into the completed building in 1775.)

The work was finished last fall, allowing the institution to offer tours of its museum and craftsmanship demonstrations. “We have completed the renovations and made our workshops visible to the public,” said Claude Giffin, the mint’s marketing and development director. “The Monnaie has been a secret place until now. We are opening our doors and making this a living place.”

The Monnaie de Paris dates from the year 864; it moved into the current building in 1775. © Monnaie de Paris

The on-site workshops include engraving and striking ateliers as well as jewelry and enameling workshops that employ about 300 people and annually produce 100,000 medals, 120,000 gold coins and 130,000 official decorations.

(Ordinary coins are produced in the mint’s factory in Pessac, a town in southwestern France; paper currency is produced by national central banks in the eurozone.)

The renovations added a shop and cafe, and created space for art exhibitions. The mint also gained a notable anchor tenant, the French chef Guy Savoy, whose on-site restaurant opened in 2015 and now has three Michelin stars.

Last fall, when Mr. Savoy was invited to participate in the Excellence program, he chose the egg as the central motif for his coins.

A 500-euro gold coin with an egg embellishment, created by the chef Guy Savoy.

His pièce de résistance was an amusing €5,000 coin designed as a fried egg decorated with a slice of truffle, with only 11 copies made.

“The egg, banal as it may seem, is a cooking ingredient with infinite possibilities,“ Mr. Savoy said. “It takes extreme precision to cook an egg. The same precision went into producing these coins. You can almost feel the gold yolk wobble when you pick one up.”

Joaquin Jimenez, the mint’s creative director and its principal engraver, said, “Collaborations are a chance for us to confront métiers we rarely come across.

“The challenge for us is to take a flat coin and give it a different volume,” he said. “Each collaboration calls for its own special techniques.”

Mr. Savoy in his restaurant at the mint.  © Ed Alcock for The New York Times

That observation was echoed last year by Nicolas Bos, the chief executive of Van Cleef & Arpels, when he introduced the jewelry house’s coin collection observing its 110th anniversary, produced in collaboration with the mint.

“As jewelers, we are used to three-dimensionality, volume and color,” he said. “Here, we faced the challenge of adapting our drawings to a coin’s flat surface while preserving an element of jewelry.”

The collection was highlighted by an 11-piece edition of €5,000 coins of pure gold, each weighing one kilogram (2.2 pounds) and set with a diamond-studded butterfly. There also was a set of €500 gold coins with butterfly inserts in mother-of-pearl, and €10 silver coins in the quatrefoil shape of the jeweler’s Alhambra line.

“The collaboration was eye-opening for us,” Mr. Bos said. “It was love at first sight between the engravers and our jewelers because we realized we come from the same world and speak the same language.”

The collectible coins, available only in the mint’s shop and on its website, are stamped with a face value, making them legal tender in Europe, though their retail price is much higher.

The €5,000 coin by Van Cleef, for instance, cost €130,000, or $153,920.

“You could theoretically use that coin to pay for things in a store,” Mr. Beaux said last year. “But I would not recommend it given the price a kilo of gold.”

But Mr. Gaultier’s €10 coins, sold at face value in post offices and tobacco shops around France, are perfectly good legal tender for a bagful of croissants at the local boulangerie.

[Source]

[hatimtanger]

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Regardez BEIN SPORT 3 HD encodé directement sur Internet en plusieurs tailles YouTube et différent sans coupure, regardez la chaîne BEIN SPORT 3 france HD cryptée gratuitement via TV ZOUAKI et profitez de la Ligue des Champions et des jeux les plus importants de Clasico et Derby.

BeIn Sports est un réseau de télévision à péage, filiale du groupe beIN Media Group diffusant en France. Le bouquet beIn Sports regroupe trois chaînes thématiques dédiées au sport : beIN Sports 1, beIN Sports 2, beIN Sports 3, ainsi qu'un multiplex beIN Sports MAX composé de 7 chaînes (beIN Sports MAX 4 à 10) permettant de couvrir plusieurs événements en simultané, notamment lors des journées de championnat1.

Le réseau international, piloté depuis Paris, est présidé en France par Yousef Al-Obaidly, qui avait notamment lancé la chaîne avec Charles Biétry. Florent Houzot occupe le poste de Directeur de la Rédaction. L'offre payante par abonnement au câble, satellite ou à télévision par Internet comprend 3 chaînes en continu et sept canaux en multiplex de retransmissions en direct (beIN Sports Max) dédié pour la diffusion des événements comme la retransmission de la Ligue 1, la Champions League ou encore l'Europa League en football.

beIn Sports a dépassé les 2 millions d'abonnés en France et revendique au 13 septembre 2015, 2,5 millions d'abonnés2,3. Le 7 août 2014, les dirigeants annoncent qu'une troisième chaîne sera créée le 15 septembre 2014, nommée beIN Sports 34. Elle sera dédiée à tous les sports (handball, volley, tennis, athlétisme...). Cependant, lorsqu'il y aura plusieurs matchs de football en simultané, beIN Sports 3 diffusera également du football. Fin juin, à l'occasion de l'Euro 2016, beIN Sports annonce avoir atteint les 3 millions d'abonnés5.

Charles Biétry à l'origine du modèle de beIN Sports à la demande des dirigeants d'Al-Jezira Sport, investit dans le championnat de football français en obtenant des droits de la Ligue 1 pour un montant de 90 millions d'euros6. Elle entend diffuser les matchs du vendredi soir et du dimanche à 14 h. Ayant acheté une partie des droits de diffusion des championnats italien, allemand et espagnol, de la FA Cup, Capital One Cup, de la Copa del Rey, de la Ligue des champions et de la Ligue Europa pour la période 2012-20157, la chaîne a également remporté l’appel d’offres des droits télévisés pour les Euro 20128 et 20169.

La chaîne a également décidé d'investir dans le rugby à XIII en achetant certains droits télévisuels10.

beIN Sports 1 démarre sa diffusion le 1er juin 2012 et ouvre son antenne le même jour à 19 h tandis que beIN Sports 2 ouvre son antenne le 27 juillet 2012 à 20h. Les canaux additionnels (beIN Sports Max) sont disponibles le 10 août 2012.

La production exécutive des programmes des chaînes beIN Sports France est confiée à la société espagnole Mediapro, spécialiste des émissions sportives11.

Courant octobre 2012, la chaîne annonce la diffusion de la NBA avec au minimum 6 matches en direct diffusés la nuit par semaine12.

Charles Biétry, le patron de beIN Sports, ambitionne d'acquérir des droits en cyclisme, en tennis et en Formule 113.

Se voulant plus omnisports et moins une chaîne de football, le 1er janvier 2014, beIN Sport se rebaptise beIN Sports14.

Les dirigeants de la chaîne annoncent que dès le 15 septembre 2014, il y aura une troisième chaîne nommée : beIN Sports 3.

En 2017, beIN Sports liquide tout son catalogue de droits concernant le cyclisme avec notamment des courses belges (Gand-Wevelgem, Brussels Cycling Classic, La flèche Brabançonne...), des courses italiennes (Tour de Lombardie, Milan-San Remo, Tirreno-Adriatico), le Tour d'Abou Dabi, le Tour de Dubaï et surtout le Tour d'Italie15. Les compétitions ont migré pour La chaîne l'Équipe16. Le 7 février, beIN perd les droits de la Diamond League d'athlétisme au profit d'SFR Sport17.

Le 11 mai 2017, beIN Sports (ainsi que Canal+ et M6) laisse partir 2 de ses droits premium : la Ligue des champions et la Ligue Europa pour SFR Sport, qui donnera 350 millions d'euros de 2018 à 202118 ce qui représente un coup dur pour le groupe sachant qu'il disposait de l'intégralité des deux coupes d'Europe ( 129 matchs en direct pour la Ligue des Champions).

beIN Sports France is a French network of sports channels owned by Qatari Sports Investments (an affiliate of beIN Media Group) and operated by Mediapro. It is the French version of the global sports network beIN Sports.

2011 was the year which Al Jazeera Sport owned the rights of broadcasting some of the French league matches inside France and full marketing rights for the French league outside France.

Monday 5 December 2011 UEFA announced on its website that Al Jazeera Sport awarded media rights in France for UEFA Champions League 2012-15.

According to the UEFA website, each season Al Jazeera Sport will broadcast 133 matches live across its television channels, internet and mobile services. The broadcaster has also committed to significant pre-match preview programming and highlights on both UEFA Champions League matchnights.

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[nofomoartworld]

How To Live Together. Part 1: the bad news

How To Live Together, an exhibition currently on view at Kunsthalle Wien, aims to looks that the conditions and prospects of living together in terms of individual and social dimensions.

Installation view: How To Live Together, Kunsthalle Wien 2017, Photo: Stephan Wyckoff: Goshka Macuga, To the Son of Man Who Ate the Scroll, 2016

Paul Graham, Beyond Caring, 1984/8

This is a brave, laudable and rather ambitious objective at a time characterized by tightening borders, stigmatizing discourses, political debates inside filter bubbles, and other suggestions that the world is not only melting under our feet but also intent on cultivating divisions.

The exhibition is located over two floors. It is huge and it can feel as overwhelming as the theme it purports to explore: Tina Barney’s photos of the European one per cent are hung in uncomfortable proximity of the ones Mohamed Bourouissa made of the deserted youth in the Paris suburbs; Jeroen de Rijke and Willem de Rooij‘s videos of drug addicts trying to stare at the camera in exchange for a beer make for an almost unbearable watch and Paul Graham‘s photos of everyday life at the (un)employment offices in the 1980s are too close to home 30 years later.

Fortunately, the curators of How To Live Together didn’t just summon grim visions, they also searched for glimpses of hope, signs of change, and lessons from other cultures. Wolfgang Tillmans’ poignant Anti-Brexit campaign reminds us why artists need to take an active role in civil society; Ayzit Bostan‘s Imagine Peace written in arabic on t-shirts challenges society’s prejudices; Johan Grimonprez‘s Kiss-o-drome illustrates how humour and love can challenge censorship. Speaking of humour… the main poster of the exhibition with its Merkel diamond gesture is an amusing echo to Herlinde Koelbl‘s portraits of Angela Merkel over decades. Those portraits were probably the most scrutinised works in the whole Kunsthalle, by the way.

Herlinde Koelbl, Angela Merkel, 1991–2006, from the cycle: Spuren der Macht (Traces of Power) at Kunsthalle Wien

Because it’s almost 40 degrees this week in Turin and i’m in a murderous mood, i’m going to split my review of the show into two parts. Today, you get the depressing bits and as soon as temperatures have cooled off a little, i’ll be back with the works that speak of solidarity, optimism and compassion.

It’s not all bad though because 1. i loved that show so much i visited it twice and 2. i’m going to open the quick gallery tour with one of my favourite artists:

Mohamed Bourouissa, Carré rouge (from the series Périphérique), 2005

Mohamed Bourouissa, La République (from the series Périphérique), 2005

Mohamed Bourouissa, Le miroir (from the series Périphérique), 2005

Installation view: How To Live Together, Kunsthalle Wien 2017, Photo: Jorit Aust

“I wanted to represent the guys from the banlieues, who are generally only portrayed by news reporters, and to lift this type of imagery into the field of aesthetics,” explained Mohamed Bourouissa in an interview with Elephant.

Made in 2005, in the context of the riots in the French banlieues, the series has as its main protagonists the young Africans and Arabs living in the suburbs of Paris.

Because we are used to seeing them portrayed by news reporters, most of us would probably take our cue from their outfits and surrounding and automatically assume that we are looking at scenes of trouble. But Bourouissa’s photos are carefully staged and lit as if they were tableaux vivants. The subtle aesthetics strategy challenges our own prejudices as well as the over-simplification of photojournalism that often fails to convey more complex socio-political contexts. His photos also seems to invite us to face uncomfortable issues head on.

Mohamed Bourouissa, L’Utopie d’August Sander, 2012–2013

Installation view: How To Live Together, Kunsthalle Wien 2017, Photo: Jorit Aust. Mohamed Bourouissa, L’Utopie d’August Sander, 2012–2013

L’Utopie d’August Sander, another Bourouissa work in the show, refers to August Sander‘s magnum opus Menschen des 20. Jahrhunderts (People of the 20th Century, also on view at Kunsthalle Wien.) This photographic atlas was intended to be a “contemporary portrait of the German man”.

August Sander, Jobless, 1928/1993

Sander’s portraits were grouped into seven portfolios, each dedicated to a specific social and occupational group. He portrayed craftsmen, industrialists, farmers but also elements of German society that were regarded as less ‘respectable’: traveling people, beggars, the disabled, the unemployed. Their inclusion in the work is probably what raised the ire of the Nazi who, in 1936, confiscated the first published version of the project and destroyed all the printing plates.

Bourouissa’s work limits his portrayal of society to the unemployed but he anchors it into the 21st century by using 3D printing. His studio was located inside a “fab-lab mobile”. He parked his truck outside a Pôle emploi (French national unemployment agency) in Marseille and asked people in search of work if he could 3D scan them and turn them into figurines, which some likened to the santon tradition in the South East of France.

By being at the crossroads of integration and social exclusion, unemployment offices remind us how much we are defined by our social status. The polyester resin statuettes are anti-monuments to this uneasy position. The figurines respect the anonymity of the job-seeker but because they are different from each other, they also mirror the singular identities of the people who aspire to play the role that modern society expects from them.

Mohamed Bourouissa, L’Utopie d’August Sander, 2012. Image via exponaute

As a nod to the economy of precariousness and resourcefulness that surrounds unemployment, Bourouissa sold the statuettes on the street for 1 Euro.

For the artist, the work process was far more important than the statuettes. His documentation of the work includes a ‘livre des refus’ (book of refusals) in which he chronicles the reactions of people who said ‘no’ to his requests and accused him of using his artistic privileges to exploit people.

Paul Graham, Beyond Caring, 1984/8

Paul Graham, Beyond Caring (Waiting room, Highgate DHSS, North London), 1984/8

Installation view: How To Live Together, Kunsthalle Wien 2017, Photo: Jorit Aust. Paul Graham, Beyond Caring, 1984/8

In 1984, Paul Graham was commissioned to present his view of “Britain in 1984”. He chose to document the inside of English unemployment offices which, at the time, struggled to accommodate 10 million people out of work. Graham wasn’t allowed to take these images, meaning that he had to hide his camera under his coat or put it on the chair beside him. He thus had to shoot instinctively, often unable to look through the viewfinder. Yet, the images seem imbued with empathy.

The images of people sitting dejectedly in run-down waiting rooms under hostile neon lights attest to the breakdown of the welfare benefits system across the country. The series also holds a bitter mirror to contemporary economic systems that cultivate social inequality and political discourses that blame the poor for their own circumstances.

Over time the work acquired “this strange double life: as both a political work of social reportage handed out at lefty political conferences, and as a fine art photography book”.

Aslan Gaisumov, stills from the video People of No Consequence, Chechnya, 2016

Aslan Gaisumov, stills from the video People of No Consequence, Chechnya, 2016

Aslan Gaisumov, Production photo for People of No Consequence, 2016

From 23 February to 9 March 1944 the entire Chechen and Ingush nations, about half a million people, were deported to Central Asia by the Soviet authorities. They had been declared guilty of cooperation with Nazi occupants. Almost half of all Chechens died or were killed during the round-ups and transportation, and during their early years in exile.

The expulsion was part of a forced settlement program and population transfer that affected several million members of non-Russian Soviet ethnic minorities between the 1930s and the 1950s.

Survivors were allowed to return to their native land only in 1957. Many in Chechnya and Ingushetia classify it as an act of genocide, as did the European Parliament in 2004.

Aslan Gaisumov traveled across Chechnya searching for survivors of the deportation. He managed to gather 119 of them in Grozny. 60 years after they had lost their home. People of No Consequence is a quiet, hypnotizing single shot of these people entering an official looking room and sitting down facing the camera. First, the men. Then the women who go and sit at the back. On the wall at the back of the room, a poster depicts Grozny as a city that has erased all traces of recent wars in favour of pompous, alienating architecture. People of No Consequence is an incredibly moving work. The frail people in the film are the last witnesses of an injustice that hasn’t been given a place in official historical accounts.

Aslan Gaisumov had two video pieces in the shows. Both amazing in strength and simplicity. He approaches the darkest and understudied pages in the history of his country without sensationalism, bitterness nor unnecessary pathos.

Installation view: How To Live Together, Kunsthalle Wien 2017, Photo: Jorit Aust. Sven Augustijnen, Le Réduit, 2016

Sven Augustijnen, Le Réduit, 2016

Sven Augustijnen, Le Réduit (Aerial views of Kamina Base), 2016

Sven Augustijnen, Le Réduit, 2016

Sven Augustijnen, Le Réduit, 2016

Now for a bit of that famous Belgian surrealism:

While doing some research about Belgium’s colonial history in the Congo (now DRC), Sven Augustijnen found out that, during the 1950s, his country had planned to build a huge refuge for the Belgian elite in Kamina, located in the rich mining region of Katanga in what was then the Belgian Congo.

Augustijnen analysed the thousands of photos, negatives, carbon copies, maps and architectural plans he had discovered at Belgium’s Centre de Documentation historique des Forces armées. They had never been studied before.

The documents show that the Belgian government had planned to create a huge military base and a haven for the royal family and their entourage. The exclusive hideaway would have served as a second Belgian capital and refuge in case of a communist invasion in Europe.

Using the archival materials as well as a short trip he made to Kamina last year, the artist wrote a story that balances historical facts and fiction to explain the Belgian government’s absurd and ambitious secret plan.

Installation view: How To Live Together, Kunsthalle Wien 2017, Photo: Jorit Aust. Jeremy Shaw, Quickeners, 2014

That’s it for today! I’ll see you at the other end of the heat wave!

Installation view: How To Live Together, Kunsthalle Wien 2017, Photo: Jorit Aust

If you want to know more about the show, have a look at HTLT’s playlist or download the PDF of the exhibition booklet.

How To Live Together is at Kunsthalle Wien until 15 October 2017. The show was curated by Nicolaus Schafhausen, with curatorial assistant Juliane Bischoff

Also on view at Kunsthalle Wien (Karlsplatz location): Work it, Feel it! New mechanisms of body discipline.

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[touristguidebuzz]

How to Backpack Europe: My Step-by-Step Guide

Europe in the summer can be a nightmare. It’s the most popular time to visit the continent. There are tourists EVERYWHERE! Yet, despite that, it’s still one of my favorite times of the year to visit (May and October are really the best, though). During the summer, the hostels brim with life, the heat makes those beaches pop, and the sparkle of the Mediterranean in the mid-day July sun is like a diamond. Throw in some festivals and you have the recipe for one of the busiest tourist seasons out there.

So, with this season soon upon us, I wanted to create an awesome resource page that will help you plan your trip. I visit Europe multiple times a year, have been all over the continent, and now even run tours through the area. I’ve written countless articles about the region and so have a lot of resources on the website about it, that I wanted to create a page where all my best stuff on planning a backpacking or budget trip to Europe could be found in one place.

Step 1: How to Plan Your Trip

How Not to Feel Overwhelmed While Planning – Planning the perfect trip to Europe can be daunting and overwhelming. I’ve been there and I understand, but I can tell you from years of experience that the more you plan your trip, the more anxiety you will face.

How to Save for Your Trip – Is money stopping you from taking the trip of your dreams? Here are 22 easy ways to cut down on your daily expenses so you can save money to travel to Europe.

Ultimate Packing List for Female Travelers – In this post, Kristin Addis shares her packing insights for women, so that you can travel just about anywhere without spending a fortune on gear.

How to Find a Cheap Flight – Getting to Europe can be half the challenge. Luckily, there are a ton of flight deals to the continent now if you know when and how to look for them. This article will show you how to always get a cheap flight to Europe and avoid being the person that paid the most for their ticket!

How to Find Cheap Flights as a Non-American – North Americans gets a lot of cheap flight deals to Europe — but we aren’t the only ones. Here’s how to fly to Europe on a budget from anywhere in the world.

How to Earn Points for Free Flights and Hotel Stays – Free travel is my favorite kind of travel! This post shows you eight strategies I use to get over a million frequent flier points. These will get you out of your house faster, cheaper, and in comfort!

How to (Legally) Stay in Europe for More Than 90 Days – Every year, thousands of travelers wonder how they can stay in Europe for more than 90 days, which is the limit in the Schengen Zone. The good news is that there are a few different ways to stay (especially because not all of Europe is in the Schengen Zone). In this post, I share what you can do to stay legally beyond 90 days and on the continent in general.

How to Avoid Paying ATM Fees (FOREVER) – You should never have to pay any bank fees while you are accessing your money in Europe! Here is my advice on how to avoid bank fees as you backpack across the continent.

Step 2: Get Your Gear

How to Pick the Best Backpack – It’s important to pick a quality backpack for your trip since it’s going to get beaten up as you travel! This guide to choosing the right travel backpack will help you determine the best pack for your trip.

What to Pack for Your Trip – What should you pack on your trip? Well, there is no one right answer, but this list will give you a good place to start. It’s what I take on my trips with me (though you’ll need to make some seasonal variations, I’m sure!).

How to Buy Good Travel Insurance – Travel insurance is one of the most important things you’ll need for your trip. You wouldn’t have a car without car insurance ora home without home insurance, and you can’t have a trip without travel insurance!

Smartphones, Tablets, or Laptops: What’s Best for Travelers? – Not sure what tech gear to bring on your next trip? Our resident tech expert Dave Dean will walk you through the pros and cons of each device and help you get the most out of your travel tech.

Everything You Need to Know About Using Smartphones When You Travel – Learn how to use your smart phone with this in-depth guide to unlocked phones, SIM cards, roaming planes, and alternatives for when you travel overseas.

Why T-Mobile is the Best Phone Carrier for US Travelers – Looking for a reliable carrier for your next trip? Consider making the switch to T-Mobile.

Step 3: How to Get Amazing Accommodation

My Favorite Hostels, Part 1 – This is a list of European hostels that I would definitely use again if I have the chance. Hope this helps with your next European backpacking adventure!

My Favorite Hostels, Part 2 – Another list of my favorite hostels in Europe!

My Favorite Hostels, Part 3 – And one more!

How to Find a Good Hostel – This article features my best tips on how to find a affordable, clean, and fun hostel where you can meet a lot of amazing people.

Cheap Alternative Accommodation – If you are looking to stay somewhere besides a hotel or a hostel, this article lists all the types of places where you can rest your head in Europe — from couches to farms and even monasteries!

How to Find a Couchsurfing Host – Couchsurfing is a great way to save money (it’s free!), and it offers a peek into local life and a way to meet locals. It’s one of my favorite resources when I travel. Plus, Europe has a ton of hosts! If you want to stand out from the crowd and stay with amazing hosts, follow these seven steps, my tried-and-true Couchsurfing advice.

How to Become a House Sitter – This is a how-to guide to house-sitting, a wonderful opportunity that allows you to stay in a location rent free in exchange for watching someone’s house.

Step 4: Get Around Europe

7 Cheap Ways to Travel Across Europe – Even with the falling euro, traveling around Europe can still be fairly expensive. Here are seven ways to crisscross the continent without breaking the bank.

Are Train Passes Worth It? – Everyone traveling to Europe wonders if they will save money by buying a rail pass or if it’s cheaper to buy tickets as they go. This detailed post will give you the pros and cons of buying a rail pass!

Would You Contiki? – Is a Contiki tour cheaper than solo backpacking? Are the tours worth doing? Find out more about the costs of solo vs group travel and whether a Contiki tour is right for you.

Sailing Around Croatia with Busabout – Busabout is a hugely popular tour company with backpackers. They are especially famous for their Croatia sailing trips. Here’s a review of my experience I took with them.

Step 5: Save Money on the Road

How to Save Money on Food – While traveling, food often becomes a major expense. Here are some tips for saving money on food so you still can afford a nice meal out every now and then.

How to Use the Sharing Economy to Save Money – The rise of the sharing economy has made traveling across Europe so much easier and cheaper. This post lists all my favorite ridesharing, housesharing, and local meeting websites so you can get off the tourist trail and experience day-to-day life with locals!

61 Tips to Make You the Savviest Traveler – These 61 travel tips will help you become an expert traveler who gets around Europe cheaper, better, longer, and smarter!

My 18 Current Favorite Restaurants in Europe – After exploring Europe quite a bit last year and gorging on food, these are my new favorite 18 restaurants around the continent. They are definitely places you don’t want to miss the next time you travel Europe.

How I spent $100 in 5 days in Stockholm – Here’s how I did Stockholm on an ultra-tight budget so you can use my tips and tricks throughout the continent.

How I spent 10 days in London for $700 USD – Here’s a detailed post about how I managed to travel around London for less than $70 a day. The methods I used will help you throughout the continent.

Step 6: Things to Do and See

Here are all my comprehensive budget travel guides for Europe, with tips and advice on things to do and see, ways to save money, and typical costs for each of these destinations. You’ll find country specific tips as well as a host of cities listed as well. I have over 100 guides to Europe!

Belgium Czech Republic Denmark England Finland France Germany Greece Iceland Italy Malta Netherlands Norway Poland Portugal Romania Scotland Spain Sweden Switzerland Ukraine

***This massive resource list will help you plan your trip to Europe in an easy-to-follow, step-by-step pattern so you won’t get lost, overspend, or stress out about your upcoming dream trip. Europe is one of my favorite regions of the world (which is why I spend so much time there). There’s so much variety in food, culture, language, as well as so much history. I love the continent and hope you use these tips to plan your ultimate travel adventure in Europe!

P.S. – Speaking of Europe, want to go to Paris and Amsterdam? Well, come with me!! I’ll be leading a 9-day tour through these cities at the end of May! I’ll be taking you to my favorite restaurants, attractions, bars, and sights. We’ll hit the off the beaten stuff you won’t find in any guidebook. If you’re interested, click here to learn more about the itinerary and how to join. Let me show you Europe through my eyes and with the knowledge your travel in a group of like-minded people with a local expert!

Photo credit: 1, 3

The post How to Backpack Europe: My Step-by-Step Guide appeared first on Nomadic Matt's Travel Site.

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