Academy Museum to Open with 'The Wizard of Oz'

General view of the new Academy of Motion Picture Arts and
Sciences (AMPAS) Museum under construction on July 10, 2018. (AFP)
General view of the new Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) Museum under construction on July 10, 2018. (AFP)
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Academy Museum to Open with 'The Wizard of Oz'

General view of the new Academy of Motion Picture Arts and
Sciences (AMPAS) Museum under construction on July 10, 2018. (AFP)
General view of the new Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) Museum under construction on July 10, 2018. (AFP)

Opening on September 30, the Oscar Museum dedicated to the magic of movies, will be screening the 'The Wizard of Oz', and featuring a live musical orchestra from the American Youth Symphony, reported AFP news agency.

Also on the opening weeks' schedule are a "Malcolm X" screening for museum members featuring Spike Lee and Denzel Washington, and showings of all Japanese Hayao Miyazaki's films.

Dedicated to the magic of movies and first dreamt up almost a century ago, the museum, designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano, was scheduled to open in 2017. However, it was delayed many times, and the coronavirus outbreak further delayed it last year.

Equipped with the latest techniques, a cinema venue, which accommodates up to 1,000 seats, is built inside a giant ball made of glass, steel, and concrete. It's located next to the museum, and linked to it with high corridors.

The museum is aimed at introducing visitors to the history of cinema, its creations, and the techniques used in movie making.

The 28,000 square meter- museum -- including 4,500 square meters of gallery space -- is set to host iconic Hollywood treasures such as a the ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in 'The Wizard of Oz," gown worn in "Cleopatra" (1934) and a Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey" spacesuit.

Most California coronavirus restrictions have been lifted, although Los Angeles County recently reinstated mandatory indoor mask wearing even for the vaccinated.



Kim Kardashian Will Testify at Paris Jewellery Theft Trial, Says Lawyer 

Kim Kardashian attends the 2019 Creative Arts Emmy Awards on September 14, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Getty Images/AFP)
Kim Kardashian attends the 2019 Creative Arts Emmy Awards on September 14, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Getty Images/AFP)
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Kim Kardashian Will Testify at Paris Jewellery Theft Trial, Says Lawyer 

Kim Kardashian attends the 2019 Creative Arts Emmy Awards on September 14, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Getty Images/AFP)
Kim Kardashian attends the 2019 Creative Arts Emmy Awards on September 14, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Getty Images/AFP)

US reality television star Kim Kardashian is to testify in person at an upcoming French trial over an armed robbery of her jewellery in Paris in 2016, her US lawyer Michael Rhodes said Monday.

A French court is from April 28 to try six people over the gem heist in October 2016 that saw masked men walk away from Kardashian's luxurious Paris apartment with millions of dollars worth of jewels, including a diamond ring gifted by her then-husband, rapper Kanye West.

The trial is to run until May 23, and Kardashian is to appear on May 13, according to a provisional schedule.

In what has been called the biggest French holdup targeting an individual in 20 years, Kardashian was robbed of jewellery worth an estimated six million euros ($6.8 million at current rates) while she was staying at a luxury residence during Paris fashion week.

Among the suspects arrested four months later in Paris and in the south of France is Aomar Ait Khedache, known as "Old Omar", who is thought to be the ringleader of the gang.

Two investigating magistrates ordered the suspects to stand trial by jury -- which in France is reserved for the most serious crimes -- on charges including armed robbery, kidnapping and membership of a criminal gang.

In the night of October 2-3, 2016, several men, some impersonating police officers, entered the hotel where Kardashian, who was then 36, was staying.

Two of the intruders put guns to her head, and one, Kardashian later told detectives, addressed her "with a very strong French accent" in English, telling her to hand over a ring she was wearing.

They then tied her up, gagged her and carried her into the bathroom.

Three men meanwhile kept watch at the reception, and one was waiting at the wheel of a getaway car.

In addition to the ring, which featured an 18.88-carat near-flawless diamond, the group made off with several more pieces of gold and diamond jewellery.

One of the alleged robbers, Yunice Abbas, fleeing the scene on a bicycle, dropped a diamond-encrusted cross worth 30,000 euros, which was found by a passer-by a few hours later.

The thieves lost a few more items while on the run, but the bulk of the bounty has never been found and is believed to have been sold in Belgium.