A surprise new album by Kendrick Lamar opened Sunday at number one on the US chart in the latest triumph for the critically acclaimed rapper.

The album -- the fourth by the 28-year-old, entitled "untitled unmastered." -- sold 178,000 copies or the equivalent in streaming in the United States in the week through Thursday, Nielsen Music said.

Lamar released "untitled unmastered." without previous notice on March 4 in the wake of the Grammys, where he was the music industry gala's biggest winner with five awards.

He characterized the album as a series of rough works from the studio, although the songs take on heavy themes including an opening track that mixes images of the biblical apocalypse and contemporary social ills.

Published: 14 March 2016

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A herd of elephants romped across a Bangkok pitch Thursday for the first match of a four-day polo tournament raising money for the animals, which are heralded as a national symbol but often subject to abuse.

Eighteen pachyderms are playing in the annual King's Cup Elephant Polo Tournament, held this year on a large field in the heart of the Thai capital.

During the lumbering and unsurprisingly slow-paced matches, a "mahout" handler controls the beasts while a polo player who is also riding on the elephant's back concentrates on scoring.

This year's tournament sees a motley mix of humans competing, including professional polo players, New Zealand rugby stars, Thai celebrities and members of a transgender cabaret troupe.

Some of the competing elephants are taking time out from their day jobs in the tourist industry, while others are domesticated but currently unemployed, according to the event's organisers, the luxury hotel group Anantara.

Published: 11 March 2016

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Menswear or womenswear -- who cares? Genderless fashion is the buzzword for many of today's top designers, highlighted at London Fashion Week by a string of androgynous touches on the catwalks.

From Christopher Kane's heavy, dark, asymmetric tailoring to Burberry's parade of male and female models in military overcoats and aviator jackets, masculine styling repeatedly stood out in the women's autumn/winter collections.

It's not just in London where designers are experimenting with preconceptions about gender and identity.

Gucci has sent men down the catwalks in pussybows and hot pink suits under new creative director Alessandro Michele while Jaden Smith, son of US actor Will Smith, was unveiled as the face of Louis Vuitton womenswear last month.

Transgender models such as Andreja Pejic and Lea T are among the most sought after in the industry.

One of its rising stars is US model Rain Dove, who, standing at six foot two inches with chiselled features, models in both male and female fashion shows.

Published: 27 February 2016

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Once it would have been career suicide, but Hollywood star Ellen Page is convinced that "the best decision I ever took" was to come out.

The elfin actress, who made her name as a pregnant high school teen in the off-beat Canadian comedy "Juno", has not looked back since she went public two years ago and only to be later named the world's "sexiest celebrity vegetarian" alongside Jared Leto.

In September she took another step into the light by walking the red carpet with her partner, artist and surfer Samantha Thomas, for the premiere of "Freeheld", which tells the true story of a lesbian couple in New Jersey fighting for equal pension rights as one of them dies of cancer.

But the 28-year-old star of blockbusting action films like "X-Men" and "Inception" told AFP that plucking up the courage wasn't easy. "I was very closeted. And obviously something about Hollywood and the film industry made me feel like I couldn't be out," she said in an interview while visiting Paris.

"Now that I am out, it's the best decision I've ever made. I think it sucks that anyone has to live that way. I wish no one had to."

The Canadian actress, who is also vegan, has since become a vocal advocate of equality for the LGBT community.

"Obviously there's been progress, because we now have marriage equality in America. But there's still so much to do. You can still be fired and denied housing in 35 US states if you're an LGBT person, and trans women of colour have a life expectancy of 35, which is appalling. We're far from true equality."

Published: 12 February 2016

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34^th Conference on the Holocaust and Genocide

Millersville University of Pennsylvania

April 6–8, 2016

Aftermath of the Holocaust and Genocide

Director: Victoria Khiterer

Advisory Board: Lawrence Baron (San Diego State University), Holli Levitsky (Loyola Marymount University), Antony Polonsky (Brandeis University), David Shneer (University of Colorado Boulder), Maxim D. Shrayer (Boston College)

Committee Members: Onek Adyanga, Tanya Kevorkian

Administrative Assistant: Maggie Eichler

Graduate Assistant: Abigail Gruber

==============CONFERENCE PATRONS===============

Richard Welkowitz

Congregation Shaarai Shomayim

Jonathan Lichter

Please see the conference addendum insert for the full list of conference donors

since January 2016.

The 34^th Conference on the Holocaust and Genocide Committee is pleased to acknowledge the support of the Offices of the President and Provost.

Transportation:

Limited shuttle transportation from and to Heritage Hotel – Lancaster (500 Centerville Road, Lancaster, PA 17601) will be provided at night on April 6 (before and after the conference opening), and before and after conference sessions on April 7 and April 8.

All conference sessions will be at the Bolger Conference Center (Gordinier Hall), Millersville University, 2^nd floor

CONFERENCE SCHEDULE

Wednesday, April 6, 2016, Opening Night, 6:30-10:00 pm

6:30-7:00 pm Opening Reception, Lehr Room

7:00-7:10 pm Welcoming Remarks by Victoria Khiterer, Millersville University

Plenary talk 7:10-7:50 pm, Lehr Room

Gabriel Finder, University of Virginia, Jewish Honor Courts: Revenge, Retribution, and Reconciliation in Europe and Israel after the Holocaust (The Jack Fischel Lecture)

8:05 - 10:00 pm Documentary Film “The Long Way Home” (1997, Writer/Director Mark Jonathan Harris, Running time 1 hour, 54 minutes), Lehr Room

Thursday, April 7, 2016

8:30 am-5 pm Registration of conference participants

9:00-10:30 am

Panel 1: Aftermath of the Holocaust and Modern Anti-Semitism in Russia, Ukraine and Poland, University Room

Chair: Victoria Khiterer, Millersville University

Alexander Prusin, New Mexico Tech, The Holocaust in the Polish War Crimes Trials

Anya Quilitzsch, Indiana University Bloomington, Returning Home? Jewish Life in Soviet Transcarpathia after the Catastrophe

Igor Kotler, Museum of Human Rights, Freedom and Tolerance, Holocaust Denial and anti-Semitic Propaganda in Russia: A Case of YouTube

Panel 2: Aftermath of the Holocaust and its Commemoration in Western Europe, Old Main Room

Chair: Michael C. Hickey, Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania

David H Weinberg, Wayne State University, Recovering a Voice: West European Jewish Communities after World War II

Annette Finley-Croswhite, Old Dominion University, Moveable Memory: Commemorating the Shoah in Paris

Annemarike Stremmelaar, Leiden University, The Netherlands, “Anne Frank speaks Turkish.” Retelling the Story of the Holocaust in the Netherlands

10:45 am- 12:30 pm

Panel 3: Holocaust and Anti-Semitism in the Soviet Union, University Room

Chair: Victoria Khiterer, Millersville University

Zvi Gitelman, University of Michigan, Antisemitism and its Consequences in the Soviet Military in World War Two (The Reynold Koppel Lecture)

Polly Zavadivker, University of Delaware, The Language of Genocide and Soviet Postwar Antisemitism

Maxim D. Shrayer, Boston College, A Footnote to the Shema in a Moscow Magazine: July 1946

Discussant: Brian Horowitz, Tulane University

Panel 4: The Holocaust in American Life, Matisse Room

Chair: Jeffrey Scott Demsky, San Bernardino Valley College

Bat-Ami Zucker, Bar-Ilan University, The Harrison Report and its Impact on the Creation of the State of Israel

Cynthia A. Crane, University of Cincinnati, Cultural Consequences/Legacy and Impact of the Holocaust on Immigrants to America

N. Ann Rider, Indiana State University, Cultural Mental Schemas of American Holocaust Reception: Ruth Klüger’s Still Alive

Panel 5: Resistance and its Representation in Film, Old Main Room

Chair: Lawrence Baron, San Diego State University

Paul R. Bartrop, Florida Gulf Coast University, St. Hedwig’s Cathedral, Berlin as a Focus of Anti-Nazi Opposition during the Holocaust

Michael Rubinoff, Arizona State University, Jewish Resistance Depicted on Film

12:30-1:30 pm Lunch for the Invited Conference Participants, Lehr Room

1:30-3:15 pm

Panel 6: Polish Jewish Refugees and Displaced Persons, University Room

Chair: Zvi Gitelman, University of Michigan

Eliyana R. Adler, Penn State University, Displaced Children: Polish Jewish Youth on the Margins of the War

Ellen G. Friedman, The College of New Jersey, Writing About Other People’s Memories

Gennady Estraikh, New York University, The Second Repatriation of Polish Jews from the Soviet Union (The Miriam Fischel Lecture)

Discussant: Michael C. Hickey, Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania

Panel 7: The Armenian Genocide and its Commemoration, Matisse Room

Chair: Sylvia A. Alajaji, Franklin and Marshall College

Elke Heckner, University of Iowa, Tehlirian on Trial: The Public Production of Testimony to Genocide

Jeffrey Scott Demsky, San Bernardino Valley College, A Duty To Remember, A Duty To Forget: Examining Americans' Unequal Memories of the War on Armenians and the War on Jews

Published: 11 February 2016

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Cambodia's government has hit out at Valentine's Day, warning students against losing the "dignity of themselves and their families" in a note sent to schools across the country.

Valentine's Day has become something of a favourite among young people in many Southeast Asian countries in recent years, with bunches of red roses and heart-shaped chocolates cropping up in stores and on street stalls each February.

But that has left some officials rattled, particularly in Cambodia and neighboring Thailand -- both of which have become renowned in recent years for issuing warnings about the pitfalls of young love and premarital sex ahead of the 14 February holiday.

The Cambodian Ministry of Education directive, which was sent to private and public schools on on Tuesday, ordered teachers to "take measures to prevent inappropriate activities on Valentine's Day".

The ministry said the increasingly popular holiday was driving young people "to overjoy, to forget about studying and to lose the reputation and dignity of themselves and their families".

"It is not a traditional event of our Khmer people," the statement said according to a copy seen by AFP.

Social conservatives in both countries see the day as a foreign import which represents a moral threat to traditional Buddhist beliefs.

Cambodian women in particular are under intense pressure to retain their virginity until marriage.

Published: 11 February 2016

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Intricate adult coloring books are the latest lifestyle craze to grip the United States, generating millions of fans, booming sales and libraries falling over themselves to host workshops.

Walk into any New York bookstore, and you'll find them artfully laid out on tables or filling entire shelves. Buyers can choose from Sanskrit patterns, urban landscapes, butterflies and flowers all offering "stress relieving patterns." The latest fashion? The swear word version.

Amazon sells hundreds of them, including nine on the top 20 bestseller list. Fans post their finished designs and swap tips on Facebook or Pinterest.

Dover Publications, which prints dozens of coloring books, decreed August 2 as National Coloring Book Day, sponsoring parties and hosting an online group discussion board for tips on how to throw a successful bash at home.

"It calms us down to be coloring," Linda Turner, a licensed creative arts psychotherapist in Manhattan, explained of the trend born in Europe.

"If you are really with it, if you are really in the presence of coloring the colors and just being with the art, it is a wonderful way to support calming and presence and relaxation," she told AFP.

Turner said that while children are willing to explore and experiment, adults are not necessarily so comfortable with their creativity.

"These coloring books, they look adult, they look sophisticated... and they are going to create, and they are going to be present in the moment and have fun... In ways that are safe for them," she added.

Published: 04 February 2016

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US pop star Mariah Carey and Australian casino tycoon James Packer are engaged to be married, according to friends who said Friday they were over the moon for the lovebirds.

The couple has been dating for several months and celebrated New Year's Eve at billionaire Packer's Crown Casino in Melbourne, where the singer took to the stage to perform before an intimate audience that included Packer's mother.

"I'm so excited to be in Melbourne with James for New Year's Eve," the husky-voiced songstress reportedly said at the fete.

A close friend of the couple confirmed the upcoming nuptials to AFP and saying she was "over the moon that James has found such happiness with Mariah".

The Sydney Morning Herald reported that Packer proposed to his girlfriend in New York on Thursday.

Sources close to the Packer family said "the family is overjoyed that they have found each other", the newspaper reported.

"Mariah has made James a very happy man, she is a very special person and the family wholeheartedly approves," it added.

Published: 23 January 2016

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A real-life homicide, a woman who wakes up after being frozen for 30 years and a close encounter with a whale -- these are some of the virtual reality films creating a buzz at this year's Sundance Film Festival.

The lineup of no less than 30 immersive experiences -- showcased in the festival's New Frontier program -- reflects an increasing willingness by filmmakers to experiment with technology that offers a new form of story-telling.

"It’s pretty amazing," said John Cooper, director of the Sundance festival.

"We're still at a nascent stage -- five minutes long, that kind of stuff -- but you can really see how it's going to grow in people’s imaginations.

"I can see coming home and saying I just need 10 minutes of VR before anybody talks to me."

Among the standout shorts, which run about five minutes on average, is "Defrost," which follows a woman who suffered a massive stroke and wakes up after being frozen for nearly 30 years.

The viewer, equipped with a headset, experiences the film from the woman's perspective as she reunites with her much older family.

"Waves of Grace" follows Ebola survivor Decontee Davis as she helps others in Liberia affected by the disease, while "theBlu: Encounter" offers a close encounter with a whale.

"Virtual reality immerses you into a really different experience you’ve never really had before," said Jake Rowell, the director of "theBlu: Encounter," which was made in three months. "It takes you back to your eight-year-old self in a lot of ways.

"Usually people leave with it being a memory, they experience it like going on a hike, or skiing."

Published: 23 January 2016

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Leaping from the traditional to the radical, the men's edition of London fashion week opened on Friday with shows from country gentleman label Barbour and young urban designer Nasir Mazhar.

Fashion VIPS, buyers and journalists gathered under the elegant arch of the Swiss church in central London to catch a glimpse of Barbour's autumn/winter 2016 collection, the first of dozens of shows to be held before the event wraps up on Monday.

An intermittent spotlight, mimicking a lighthouse, illuminated the stage as the soothing sound of breaking waves filled the room.

"The collection is inspired by the Beacon that has stood watch at the mouth of the River Tyne in the North East of England since 1882," the label said in a statement.

Early highlights included loose-fitting jackets decorated with tartan lining, mottled grey sweaters and snoods.

The Barbour man will be wearing black and sienna trousers next winter -- tight to the ankle -- and leather boots.

Published: 14 January 2016

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