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VATICAN CITY (Reuters) -Lights, camera, action, pope? About three dozen Hollywood stars will meet Pope Leo this weekend, including actors Cate Blanchett, Chris Pine and Adam Scott, the Vatican said on Monday. Also joining a special audience at the Vatican with Leo, the first pope from the United States, will be Oscar-winning directors Spike Lee, George Miller and Gus Van Sant. The pope "has expressed his desire to deepen dialogue with the World of Cinema… exploring the possibilities that artistic creativity offers to the mission of the Church and the promotion of human values," the Vatican said in a statement. Papal events often feature high-ranking Catholic cardinals but rarely include Hollywood stars. The late Pope Francis, however, hosted an event at the Vatican in June 2024 for comedians, including U.S. late night hosts Conan O'Brien, Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Fallon. Among others set to take part in Saturday's event with Leo are actors Alison Brie, Dave Franco, and Viggo Mortensen and directors Joanna Hogg, Tony Kaye and Julie Taymor. Ahead of the new event, the Vatican shared four of the pope's favourite films: "It's a Wonderful Life" (1946); "The Sound of Music" (1965); "Ordinary People" (1980); and "Life Is Beautiful" (1997). Saturday's event is being organised by the Vatican's culture office as part of the Church's ongoing Holy Year. (Reporting by Joshua McElweeEditing by Gareth Jones)

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By Andrew Osborn MOSCOW (Reuters) -Police in St. Petersburg have detained Diana Loginova, a teenage street musician already jailed twice for short stints after performing anti-Kremlin songs, as she left prison, state media and her supporters said on Monday. Loginova, 18, a vocalist in the Stoptime group, was first arrested with other band members last month and jailed for 13 days for a public order offence after her performance of a banned track, the "Swan Lake Cooperative", by exiled anti-Kremlin Russian rapper Noize MC, went viral on social media. The Swan Lake track got her into trouble because the famous ballet by Piotr Tchaikovsky is seen as a symbol of political change by some in Russia who remember it was shown on state TV after the death of Soviet leaders and during a 1991 coup against Mikhail Gorbachev, the last Soviet president. FINED FOR DISCREDITING ARMY, JAILED FOR PETTY HOOLIGANISM Her performance of another track disliked by the authorities – "You Are a Soldier" by singer Monetochka, who like Noize MC, has left the country and is designated a "foreign agent" – got her into further trouble and saw her fined 30,000 roubles ($369) for discrediting the army. A court then handed her another 13-day jail sentence for petty hooliganism related to her performance near a metro station in central St. Petersburg last month. Authorities in Russia have heavily clamped down on critical voices since Moscow sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in February 2022, arguing that society must be as united as possible at a time when they say it is locked in a proxy war with the West. Loginova was due to be released on Monday, but was instead taken to a police station in central St. Petersburg where the state RIA news agency cited a law enforcement source as saying she was expected to be charged with another public order offence that could see her jailed again for another short stint. Separately, court records show Loginova faces more charges for discrediting the army. Loginova – a music student who performs under the name "Naoko" – told reporters last month that the power of music is important as proven by what was happening to her, but has not made any explicit political statements. A court in May banned the Swan Lake-related track that Loginova performed, ruling that it included statements that could be seen as "promoting violent changes to the foundations of the constitutional order." ($1 = 81.3 roubles) (Reporting by Andrew Osborn; Editing by Conor Humphries)

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By Lisa Richwine and Danielle Broadway LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -Rapper Kendrick Lamar topped the list of Grammy contenders for the second straight year on Friday with nine nominations, outpacing the seven nods for pop superstar Lady Gaga in the race for the music industry's top honors. Lamar's "GNX" and Gaga's "MAYHEM" will compete for the prestigious album of the year trophy at the Grammy Awards 2026 ceremony in February. Neither artist has won the honor despite multiple nominations in the category. Others nominated in the album field include Bad Bunny for the Spanish-language "Debí Tirar Más Fotos," Justin Bieber for "Swag" and Sabrina Carpenter for "Man's Best Friend." Three rap albums are in contention. In addition to "GNX," Tyler, the Creator’s "Chromakopia" and "Let God Sort Em Out, from the duo Clipse, were nominated. "The Life of a Showgirl" by Taylor Swift, who has claimed album of the year an unmatched four times, was not in the running because it was released after this year's Grammy eligibility window closed. Bad Bunny, the Puerto Rican musician who will perform at next year's Super Bowl halftime show, received six nominations including for record, song and album of the year. He was the first Latin artist to be nominated in the three major categories in the same year. For the album prize, "I think it's between Lady Gaga and Kendrick Lamar," Billboard awards editor Paul Grein said. Grein said he gave the edge to Lamar, who would be the first solo male rap artist to land the prize. "I think he'll do it," Grein said, "but you can never discount Lady Gaga who is loved by everyone." Two K-pop songs landed in the song of the year field, an award given to songwriters. They are the chart-topping "Golden" from the soundtrack of "KPop Demon Hunters," the most-watched movie in the history of Netflix, and "APT." by Rose and Bruno Mars. "Golden" received three total nominations. "Never did I imagine this level of success," said Rei Ami, one of the voices behind the fictional "Demon Hunters" group HUNTR/X. "It's really hard for all of us to process still." "APT." also was nominated for record of the year, a trophy given to producers and performers, and best pop duo/group performance. Others on the list included Gaga's "Abracadabra," "luther" by Lamar and SZA, and "DtMF" by Bad Bunny. In the best new artist category, Olivia Dean and KATSEYE will compete with Leon Thomas, Alex Warren and others. Thomas, an R&B and soul musician, also received an album of the year nomination for "Mutt." Grammy winners will be chosen by the roughly 15,000 voting members of the Recording Academy and announced at a red-carpet ceremony in Los Angeles on February 1. (Reporting by Lisa Richwine; Editing by Diane Craft and Cynthia Osterman)

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(Reuters) -Google's YouTube said it is open to negotiating a fair deal with Disney to restore the entertainment giant's networks to its YouTube TV pay‑TV service, while it accused Disney of misrepresenting facts and seeking higher rates than rivals and its own smaller platforms. Disney said on Friday it continues talks with YouTube TV to bring back its networks, heading into "another sports-packed weekend without a deal in place." On Monday, YouTube TV proposed restoring ABC and ESPN, in response to Disney's request to bring back ABC for Election Day coverage. "Our team stands ready to make a fair agreement in line with their deals with other distributors and we encourage Disney to come to the table and do what's best for our mutual customers," YouTube said in a statement to Reuters. YouTube said Disney is seeking a rate above what Charter and DirecTV pay for the ABC networks. The video streaming service said it is not seeking better rates, as Disney claims. The dispute centers on carriage fees, the per‑subscriber rates distributors pay to carry broadcast and cable networks. "YouTube TV continues to insist on receiving preferential terms that are below market and has made few concessions," Disney Entertainment co-chairs Dana Walden and Alan Bergman and ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro had said in a memo to employees on Friday. Disney said it began talks by offering YouTube TV a "deal that would cost less overall than the terms of our recently expired license," and said it had offered fair terms in line with agreements reached by other distributors since last summer. YouTube TV, one of the largest U.S. pay‑TV distributors, has been negotiating this year with media companies that have threatened to pull their networks from the platform. Disney's networks went dark on YouTube TV late last Thursday after talks failed to produce a licensing deal, the companies said in separate statements. (Reporting by Juby Babu in Mexico City and Anhata Rooprai in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid)

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(Reuters) -Disney said on Friday it is continuing talks with Google's YouTube TV to restore ABC and ESPN after its networks went dark on the pay-TV service. On Monday, YouTube TV proposed restoring ABC and ESPN, in response to Disney's request to bring back ABC to the pay-TV service for Election Day coverage. "YouTube TV continues to insist on receiving preferential terms that are below market and has made few concessions," Disney Entertainment co-chairs Dana Walden and Alan Bergman and ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro said in a memo on Friday to employees. Disney began talks with YouTube TV by offering YouTube TV a "deal that would cost less overall than the terms of our recently expired license," they said in the memo. "That's real savings that YouTube TV could pass along to its customers." It said it had offered fair terms, in line with agreements reached by other distributors since last summer, according to the memo. YouTube TV did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. One of the largest U.S. pay-TV distributors, YouTube TV has been in a series of negotiations this year with companies threatening to pull their networks from the platform. Disney's networks went dark YouTube TV late last Thursday after talks failed to produce a licensing deal, the companies said in separate statements. (Reporting by Juby Babu in Mexico City; Editing by Tasim Zahid)

(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)