Fashion designer Kenzo Takada, founder of the global Kenzo brand, died in Paris on Sunday after contracting Covid-19, his spokesman said.

A teenage singer from Lebanon this week became the latest to join a global pop band formed by Simon Fuller, the man behind the Spice Girls and "American Idol," which aims to transform young unknowns into internet superstars.

That may seem a grandiose ambition during a global pandemic. But Now United, with over a dozen teenagers drawn from across the world, is plowing ahead, recording and filming new music in the skyscraper-studded city of Dubai this week.

The Emmys on Sunday basically turned into the world's most glamorous Zoom call, with Hollywood A-listers beaming into an empty Staples Center in Los Angeles from their apartments, guest houses and various other locations in 10 countries.

Lebanon on Sunday held a concert for the victims of last month's deadly Beirut blast in the grounds of a 19th-century palace wrecked by the massive explosion.

French President Emmanuel Macron returned to Lebanon on Monday, a country in the midst of an unprecedented crisis, for a two-day visit and a schedule packed with events and political talks aimed at charting a way out for the country.

But his first meeting wasn't with the new prime minister-designate appointed hours earlier, nor with the country's feuding politicians or civil society activists. Macron instead chose to see Lebanon's No. 1 diva Fairuz, a national symbol and one of the rare figures in Lebanon beloved and respected across the country.

The Arab world's last living music legend Fairuz, who French president Emmanuel Macron is to visit Monday in Beirut, is a rare symbol of national unity in crisis-hit Lebanon.

Hollywood star Russell Crowe said Thursday that he donated funds to help rebuild a blast-hit Beirut restaurant on behalf of late food icon Anthony Bourdain, who loved its traditional dishes.

Paris prosecutors said Saturday they had asked for an investigation into rape allegations against French actor Gerard Depardieu to be reopened after an earlier probe was dropped last year.

Prince Harry and wife Meghan blamed "viper" courtiers for widening their rift with the royal family, according to extracts from a new book published in The Times on Saturday.

American actress Amber Heard testified Thursday she loved ex-husband Johnny Depp and was rooting for him to kick his drug habit before filing for divorce because of alleged domestic abuse.

Depp is suing the publisher and executive editor of The Sun tabloid in London's High Court over a 2018 story accusing him of beating his 34-year old former wife.