Daily Archives: January 9, 2022


Golden Globe Awards Carry On, But Without Stars or a Telecast

If the Golden Globe Awards aren’t on television, will anyone care? That’s just one of the uneasy questions facing the embattled Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which is proceeding with its film awards Sunday night without a telecast, nominees, celebrity guests, a red carpet, a host, press or even a livestream. In a year beset by controversy, the self-proclaimed biggest party in Hollywood, has been reduced to little more than a Twitter feed. Members of the HFPA and some recipients of the group’s philanthropic grants are gathering at the Beverly Hilton …


Italy Sends Back Parthenon Fragment in Landmark Loan to Greece

Greece this week takes delivery of an ancient fragment that once adorned the Parthenon temple, the country’s most important archeological site. The return from a museum in Italy is being seen as the strongest nudge yet to the British Museum, which holds the largest collection of Parthenon Sculptures and has refused for centuries to return the antiquities to their ancient home. The marble fragment will be unveiled at the Acropolis Museum Monday, displayed in a full-size representation of the Parthenon’s frieze. The return is part of a groundbreaking loan deal …


Hong Kong Travel Restrictions Could Have Dire Consequences

International business groups are urging Hong Kong to restart international flights after a ratings group warned the travel restrictions, imposed last week because of COVID-19 outbreaks, could have dire effects on the territory’s economy. Fitch Ratings said, “A new wave of restrictions on various social activities within Hong Kong and a further tightening of controls on international travel … are likely to dampen economic growth prospects.” Some Hong Kong executives who traveled out of the territory for the winter holidays found that they could not return to Hong Kong because …


NFL Teams Providing Female Fans with Clubs of their Own

Verdell Blackmon showed up for a recent NFL game and left no doubt who she was cheering for that afternoon. Blackmon’s hair, makeup, nails and dress were bright hues of blue, and Detroit Lions Women of the Pride was printed on her black shirt. The Lions season ticket holder was one of about 50 women in the team’s Women of the Pride group who attended a pregame party at Ford Field and witnessed Detroit’s first win of the season against Minnesota last month. Earlier this season, the Women of the …


US Economy Shows Strength Entering 2022, but Pandemic Clouds Future

At the start of 2022 most measures show the U.S. economy is booming, with an unemployment rate that is approaching record lows and a demand for goods that has imports from the rest of the world surging. On Friday, the Labor Department announced that the unemployment rate had fallen to 3.9% in December, even as the economy produced a smaller-than-expected increase of 199,000 new jobs. The report came a day after the Commerce Department announced that U.S. imports in November had increased by 4.6% over the previous month to $304.4 …


EU Under Pressure on ‘Ghost Flights’

The European Union is under increasing pressure to further ease rules on airport take-off and landing slots to cut the number of “ghost flights” airlines are running to retain them. Carriers say the requirement for them to use 50% of their slots — down from 80% in pre-pandemic days — or lose them is forcing them to operate empty or half-empty flights. A sluggish return to air travel, as travelers shrink away from the omicron COVID variant and quickly changing rules for passengers, is dragging out the practice longer than …


Marilyn Bergman, Oscar-Winning Composer, Dies at 93

Marilyn Bergman, the Oscar-winning lyricist who teamed with husband Alan Bergman on The Way We Were, How Do You Keep the Music Playing? and hundreds of other songs, died at her Los Angeles home Saturday. She was 93. She died of respiratory failure not related to COVID-19, according to a representative, Jason Lee. Her husband was at her bedside when she died. The Bergmans, who married in 1958, were among the most enduring, successful and productive songwriting partnerships, specializing in introspective ballads for film, television and the stage that combined …