Britain's Queen Camilla celebrates anniversary with Italian pizza and ice cream

LONDON: Northern Irish rap group Kneecap responded to calls for their US visas to be revoked after they displayed messages during their performance at the Coachella festival in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

Kneecap, consisting of Moglai Bap and Mo Chara from Belfast, along with DJ Provai from Derry, told BBC Northern Ireland on Wednesday that their “statements aren’t aggressive, murdering 20,000 children is though,” in reference to Israeli actions in Gaza since late 2023.

The band concluded their performance at Coachella’s California desert music festival last weekend by projecting three screens of pro-Palestinian messages.

The first text said: “Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people,” followed by: “It is being enabled by the US government who arm and fund Israel despite their war crimes,” while the final message said: “F*** Israel. Free Palestine.”

Since October 2023, Israeli military operations in Gaza have killed more than 50,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, while more than 100,000 others have been injured. On Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacked Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages to Gaza.

The Irish band’s performance was not streamed on the festival’s official YouTube page, the BBC reported. During the performance, Mo Chara said: “The Irish not so long ago were persecuted at the hands of the Brits, but we were never bombed from the... skies with nowhere to go. The Palestinians have nowhere to go.”

During the second weekend of the Coachella festival, from April 17-19, the trio led the audience in chants of “free, free Palestine.”

The band is scheduled to perform at several shows in the US and Canada in the coming months. It said that almost all the concerts planned for their US tour in October have sold out.

Sharon Osbourne, a former judge on TV talent shows “The X Factor” and “America’s Got Talent,” urged US authorities to revoke Kneecap’s work visas following their performance at Coachella.

She said the band’s performance included “projections of anti-Israel messages and hate speech.

“As someone of both Irish Catholic on my mother’s side and Ashkenazi Jewish heritage on her father’s side, and extensive experience in the music industry, I understand the complexities involved,” she said.

“I urge you to join me in advocating for the revocation of Kneecap’s work visa,” Osbourne added.

Commentators on Fox News condemned and accused the group of bringing “Nazi” sentiments to America.

Kneecap criticized Fox News comments, sharing fans’ supportive messages and noting that they received thousands of endorsements compared to “hundreds of violent Zionist threats.”

US authorities have not commented on the case, and no actions have been taken regarding the band’s visas.

DUBAI: The UAE capital is preparing to host the seventh edition of Culture Summit Abu Dhabi, a global forum for cultural exchange and dialogue, from April 27-29 at Manarat Al-Saadiyat. 

Organized by the Abu Dhabi Department of Culture and Tourism, the three-day event will bring together policymakers, artists, scholars, and innovators to explore the theme “Culture for Humanity and Beyond,” focusing on the intersection of culture, technology and global governance.

The program will feature keynote speeches, panel discussions, artist talks, and workshops. 

Confirmed speakers include Mo Gawdat, former chief business officer at Google X; philosopher Susan Buck-Morss; Prof. Iyad Rahwan from the Max Planck Institute; and Glenn D. Lowry, director of MoMA.

Other prominent voices set to appear include Sir William Sargent of Framestore, and Koyo Kouoh, executive director and chief curator of Zeitz MOCAA.

The panels will explore a wide range of topics, including the impact of artificial intelligence on the creative industries.

Sessions such as “AI Revolution: Redefining Creativity in the Age of Machines,” “Should Governments Regulate AI to Compensate the Creative Industries?” and “The Double-Edged Sword of AI in Cinema” will address the growing role of generative technologies in reshaping artistic expression, intellectual property and creative labor.

The summit will also revisit cultural policy discussions, hosting the second edition of the Mondiacult Ministerial Dialogue. The two-part session will bring together more than 10 ministers of culture to explore the influence of AI on culture and the role of the arts in peacebuilding and sustainability. 

Another key session will examine the implementation of the UNESCO Framework for Culture and Arts Education, building on outcomes from a related global conference held in Abu Dhabi in early 2024.

Highlighting culture as a public good, the summit will include sessions on environmental sustainability, heritage preservation, and cultural governance. Sessions will include “Turning Green: What Happens When Cultural Leaders Take Action for the Planet” and “From Ruins to Resilience: A New Era of Heritage Rehabilitation.”

Creative voices such as Thomas Heatherwick, Colleen Atwood, Refik Anadol, and Herbie Hancock will participate in artist talks and panels. The program will also feature conversations between prominent figures, including philanthropist Maja Hoffmann, architect Hashim Sarkis, and director Sir John Akomfrah, as well as a session on jazz and humanity led by Hancock and journalist John Ridding.

Attendees will also be able to engage with the work of regional talents, including poet and artist Alia Al-Shamsi, designer Omar Al-Gurg, and architect Abdalla Almulla, offering insights into the UAE’s growing creative sector.

The event’s global partners include UNESCO, The Economist Impact, Design Museum, Google, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and Foundation, and the Recording Academy. Additional collaborators range from regional institutions such as Louvre Abu Dhabi and Cultural Foundation to international cultural bodies such as Institut du Monde Arabe, TeamLab and the Herbie Hancock Jazz Institute.