National Entertainment

TOKYO (AP) — Japanese electronics and entertainment company Sony says it’s focusing on creativity in movies, animation and video games, rather than old-fashioned gadgetry.

MEMPHIS, Tennessee (AP) — The smell of wood fire wafting on the breeze is the first sense that gets triggered at the World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest in Memphis, where smoke is as essential an ingredient as salt.

LONDON (AP) — It was nice while it lasted. An environmentally themed mural by elusive street artist Banksy that appeared last week on a London street has been encased in plastic and surrounded by fencing after an apparent act of vandalism.

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — The New York state Senate on Wednesday passed a bill to explicitly allow evidence of prior sexual offenses in sex crimes cases, a move to change the legal standard Harvey Weinstein used to overturn his rape conviction.

NASHVILLE, Tenn.

TORONTO — The Writers Guild of Canada has ratified a new three-year contract that increases pay and implements artificial intelligence protections for writers, story editors and story consultants.

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi's capital city has been tapped to host the National Folk Festival from 2025 through 2027.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — A judge on Wednesday said Elvis Presley's estate could be successful in arguing that a company's attempt to auction Graceland is fraudulent as he halted a foreclosure sale of the beloved Memphis tourist attraction.

TORONTO — Ongoing financial uncertainty is forcing the Hot Docs Film Festival to temporarily close its flagship Toronto theatre and lay off staff for about three months, the organization said Wednesday.

CANNES, France (AP) — “Beauty is like war,” says Gary Oldman, in character, in Paolo Sorrentino’s “Parthenope.” “It opens doors.” “Parthenope,” in which Oldman plays the author John Cheever, premiered Tuesday in Cannes.