The packed stands at Epsom and Royal Ascot are just the images a sport wants beamed worldwide but away from the prestigious meetings racing faces a challenging time in attracting new spectators

British racing battles to get new spectators to saddle up

Sports

Paris (AFP) – The packed stands at Epsom and Royal Ascot are just the images a sport wants beamed worldwide but away from the prestigious meetings racing faces a challenging time in attracting new spectators.

Worryingly for the 'Sport of Kings' the crown seemed to have lost a bit of its lustre with disappointing crowds for both the York and Chester festivals in May with high quality racing spread over several days.

At Chester attendance over the four days was 35,000, down 35% on the 53,500 that were at the corresponding fixture in 2019.

Ordinary midweek meetings are suffering too as racing like other sports and entertainment venues battle to attract footfall with the public ever more wary of spending money due to a cost of living crisis.

Rod Street, CEO of Great British Racing (GBR) which is the sport's central promotional and marketing body tasked with increasing engagement with and participation in horse racing, told AFP the decline in attendances is a concern.

"The cost-of-living crisis is certainly a factor," he said.

"Also following two years of extended lockdown periods (due to Covid-19), every sporting, leisure and entertainment offering is competing at once.

"We also believe that, after two years, people have got out of the habit.

"As ever, it is rarely one factor that affects the trend but rather several."

Street had laid out at the beginning of the year in GBR's manifesto they would target the 25-34 age group, though he concedes delivering the killer argument to persuade them to come racing is not easy.

"It is a considerable challenge," he said.

"Our consumer research informs us that the 25-34 year-old market demonstrates the best opportunity for growth, as this demographic consistently expresses an appetite to consider racegoing.

"Consideration is the stage that follows awareness and precedes purchase, so this insight is important.

"We will target broader ethnic groups in this age category that better represent society, making our catchment as wide as possible."

William Woodhams, CEO of Fitzdares bookmakers, says much needs to be done to make going racing more attractive to the public.

"It does feel lacklustre at the moment," he told AFP.

"Apart from key meetings we don't seem to be getting the right cross-section of the public.

"I do think the food and beverage offerings are pretty dire and attempts with bands etc don't really land well.

"The sport is entertainment enough and we just need to make the whole experience better."

'Excitement and drama'

Woodhams, drawing on his experience of six years with luxury goods firm LVMH, does not believe that racecourses offer value for money.

"For the very best experience you pay well over the odds and there should be more value at the entry level," he said.

"People under 30 should be paying £20 ($24) for entry, a free bet and a drink."

Entry fees vary -- the vast majority of racecourses offer free entry to Under-18's -- but extras quickly add to the costs.

Goodwood for example is £12-26 entry but a bottle of water is £2.50 the cheapest pint is £6 and a hamburger £9 as cited by The Racing Post.

Goodwood, York, Ascot and other high profile racecourses push the boat out to welcome spectators but that is not the case for other racetracks according to Woodhams and Qatar Racing's manager David Redvers.

"Several racecourses do a good job but many smaller ones are concentrating too much on the fact they receive a great majority of their income through media rights," Redvers said.

"For them it is actually a pain to have crowds and they would far rather have fewer bums on seats and not worry about infrastructure and expenses and get their money through TV rights."

The Jockey Club -- which owns 15 racecourses including Aintree and Cheltenham and puts on 340 racing fixtures a year -- would not fit into that category as they spend £7 million a year on marketing to attract spectators.

Indeed in the first four months of 2022, paid attendance across their racecourses was up by three percent on the same pre-pandemic period (2019).

For Street and Woodhams the future for racing is not a gloomy one -- for the latter it is "100 percent the most premium sport".

"Challenging but potentially rewarding," says Street of the future.

"It is unrealistic to think that everyone that comes through the gates will become a more engaged fan, but the more we do to get people closer to the excitement and drama of the sport and its tremendous characters, the better our chance of developing more lifelong fans."

The house on North Roxbury Drive in Beverly Hills, California owned by internet mogul Eric Baker is seen on June 18, 2022. It's a dispute that plays out in towns the world over: a new property owner wants to alter a much-loved landmark against the wishes of locals. It's his money. It's their community. So far, so familiar. But this is Beverly Hills, where the perfectly manicured mansions of celebrities and socialites populate one of the world's most desirable zip codes. Oh, and the property in question is worth $40 million.

Beverly Hills 9021...oh: Planning row pits new against old in ritzy US zip code

Real People

Beverly Hills (United States) (AFP) – It's a dispute that plays out in towns the world over: a new property owner wants to alter a much-loved landmark against the wishes of locals. It's his money. It's their community.

So far, so familiar.

But this is Beverly Hills, where the perfectly manicured mansions of celebrities and socialites populate one of the world's most desirable zip codes. Oh, and the property in question is worth $40 million.

"It is extremely beautiful," said preservationist Alison Martino, who grew up four blocks away from the North Roxbury Drive house bought in 2020 by Eric Baker, the co-founder of internet-based ticket empire StubHub.

"It's on a double lot, which makes it very stately and it's pushed back from the street. It almost looks like a park. It's the most beloved house in Beverly Hills."

To the visitor, the whole city looks a little like a park; lavish homes nestle on tree-lined streets that are peopled chiefly by Lululemon joggers and the occasional member of household staff.

- Elvis, Sinatra, Madonna -

The enclave of Beverly Hills began life a little over a century ago, and soon established itself as byword for luxury; an oasis for the well-heeled who made their money in the newly burgeoning film industry, but found nearby Hollywood a bit tawdry.

Over the years, it has been home to a Who's Who of entertainment, counting Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford, Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Madonna and Jennifer Aniston as residents.

Today, minibuses ferrying star-spotting tourists whizz through the neighborhood, with guides pointing out the present and former homes of the famous.

When Lucille Ball moved to Beverly Hills, she wanted that house, but it wasn't for sale, so she bought the house across the street so she could look at it," said Martino.

$39.1 million

The object of Ball's desire is a Regency Revival home constructed 80 years ago by Beverly Hills master builder Carleton Burgess.

The 9,000-square-foot spread sits among fabulous lawns and boasts its own full-size tennis court, a pavillion and a swimming pool.

Previous owners annually festooned the house with Christmas decorations, Martino says, welcoming the neighbors over to see.

But in 2020, Baker slapped down $39.1 million for it -- almost double its previous sale price -- adding a glistening centerpiece to a property portfolio that reportedly already included two swanky Beverly Hills spots.

Now, he appears set on making changes to his North Roxbury Drive pad -- despite what the neighbors think.

Last year he applied for a "certificate of ineligibility," a pass that would allow major work on the house without the need to get a green light from the city's cultural heritage commission.

His exact plans for the property are not known, and his Los Angeles-based lawyer did not repsonded to AFP requests for comment, but locals fear he wants to take a wrecking ball to the place.

"They want to tear it down so they can build a bigger, more modern house with the latest architecture," wrote one commentor on Martino's Vintage Los Angeles Facebook page.

"The thought of this impeccably well-maintained historical building and grounds being demolished sickens me."

Others mutter darkly about not wanting something that "looks like an embassy compound" with a building that goes right up to the street.

"Even with all the money in the world, you don't get to do whatever you want," said life-long Beverly Hills resident Rebecca Pynoos. "Our cultural heritage shouldn't be sold to the highest bidder."

2am meeting

Feelings are running so high that a recent planning meeting went on until 2am.

After seven hours of back-and-forth, much of which hinged on whether or not the house was sufficiently well-known to merit preservation, councillors voted to bring the matter back for further consideration on June 21.

The discussion on Tuesday night looks set to be lengthy -- councillors have been presented with a 727-page document that includes a missive from actor Diane Keaton.

"I am pleading with you... This charming and historic home needs to be preserved for us and future generations," she writes.

For campaigner Jill Tavelman Collins, the argument over the North Roxbury Drive house is emblematic of a larger issue in Beverly Hills.

"We've lost Lucille Ball's house, we've lost Jimmy Stewart's house... there's so little left on Roxbury that is from that time and I think it's pulling at everyone's heartstrings," she said.

"I think it's like the straw that broke the camel's back."

In this file photo taken on May 31, 2022, US actor Austin Butler poses on the red carpet upon arrival to attend the UK special Screening of Elvis at the BFI Southbank, in London. Baz Luhrmann's rock'n'roll biopic "Elvis" hip-swiveled to the top of the box office on its opening weekend in North America, taking in an estimated $30.5 million in a rare tie with "Top Gun: Maverick," industry watcher Exhibitor Relations reported on June 26, 2022.

'Elvis' puts the King back in spotlight in N.American theaters

Real People

Baz Luhrmann's rock'n'roll biopic "Elvis" hip-swiveled to the top of the box office on its opening weekend in North America, taking in an estimated $30.5 million in a rare tie with "Top Gun: Maverick," industry watcher Exhibitor Relations reported Sunday.

The nearly three-hour long extravaganza by director Luhrmann, known for glitzy films like "Moulin Rouge!" and "The Great Gatsby," brought in nearly double the average for the musical biography genre, said analyst David A. Gross of Franchise Entertainment Research.

Despite being a "risky proposition," in part for casting relative newcomer Austin Butler as Elvis Presley alongside Tom Hanks as his exploitative manager, Colonel Tom Parker, the film has impressed audiences and critics, Gross said.

"This is the Baz Luhrmann show, a music, dance and sex appeal spectacular -- it's a hit," he said.

"Elvis" was locked in a dead heat with "Top Gun: Maverick" -- the crowd-pleasing sequel to the original 1986 film that once again features Tom Cruise as cocky Navy test pilot Pete "Maverick" Mitchell.

It also earned an estimated $30.5 million in its fifth weekend of release.

It is now the highest grossing film of the year worldwide, breaking the $1 billion mark with nearly $522 million in ticket sales in North America and $484 million overseas.

In third place was "Jurassic World Dominion," Universal's sixth installment in the "Jurassic Park" franchise, at $26.4 million.

The latest dinosaur frightfest stars Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard alongside franchise originals Sam Neill, Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum.

Fourth spot went to horror film "The Black Phone" starring Ethan Hawke as a serial killer, which earned $23.4 million on its opening weekend.

"Lightyear," Pixar and Disney's latest computer-animated offering from the "Toy Story" empire, took the fifth position with $17.7 million in its second week.

The spinoff from the wildly successful animation series stars Chris Evans and has taken $88.8 million domestically and $63 million overseas, after a lackluster opening.

Rounding out the top 10 were:

"Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" ($1.7 million)

"Jugjugg Jeeyo" ($604,000)

"Everything Everywhere All At Once" ($533,346)

"The Bob's Burgers Movie" ($513,000)

"The Bad Guys" ($440,000)

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HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 09: (L-R) Carol Burnett and honoree Julie Andrews attend the 48th Annual AFI Life Achievement Award Honoring Julie Andrews at Dolby Theatre on June 09, 2022 in Hollywood, California.

Julie Andrews 'gobsmacked' by Hollywood award, six decades after 'Mary Poppins'

Real People

Nearly 60 years after preaching virtues of patience and modesty as Mary Poppins and governess Maria, Julie Andrews declared herself "gobsmacked" to have her career honored at a glitzy Hollywood gala.

"I didn't know or think that it would ever come," the 86-year-old told AFP on the red carpet before receiving the American Film Institute's life achievement award in Los Angeles, bestowed upon one silver screen legend each year.

"But it's just as well, because you can't go around expecting awards and things like that."

In fact, Andrews won the Oscar for best actress with her very first big-screen role -- 1964's "Mary Poppins" -- having rapidly progressed from child singer touring British music halls, to Broadway starlet spotted by Walt Disney.

A year after playing the magical and squeaky-clean nanny, and still in her twenties, Andrews sealed a permanent place among Tinseltown's elite with "The Sound of Music."

Five of the actors who played the Von Trapp children -- a wealthy Austrian family in need of governess Maria's singing lessons, and help in evading the Nazis -- attended Thursday's ceremony, along with four of Andrews' real-life offspring.

Andrews went on to star in a number of films during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, with some racy -- even topless -- scenes, which shocked audiences more used to her straight-laced characters.

In 2000 she was made a Dame by Queen Elizabeth II for services to acting and entertainment.

Following a personal disaster when her vocal chords were damaged in an operation, Andrews revived her career with "The Princess Diaries" (2001) and its sequel in 2004.

Her voiceover work as Queen Lillian in the "Shrek" animated film series, Gru's mother in the "Despicable Me" franchise, and Lady Whistledown in the hugely popular Netflix series "Bridgerton" earned her a new generation of young fans.

Andrews was due to receive the AFI award -- billed as "the highest honor for a career in film -- in 2020 and again in 2021, but the gala was postponed both times due to the pandemic.

"When they asked me even two-and-a-half years ago -- and Covid is what kept us from doing it then -- I was gobsmacked," she said.

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(FILES) In this file photo taken on April 28, 2020 this video grab image courtesy of the US Department of Defense shows part of an unclassified video taken by Navy pilots that have circulated for years showing interactions with "unidentified aerial phenomena". NASA is officially joining the hunt for UFOs. The space agency on June 9, 2022 announced a new study that will recruit leading scientists to examine unidentified aerial phenomena -- a subject that has long fascinated the public and recently gained high-level attention from Congress.

NASA gets serious about UFOs

Innovations

Washington (AFP) – NASA is officially joining the hunt for UFOs.

The space agency announced a new study that will recruit leading scientists to examine unidentified aerial phenomena -- a subject that has long fascinated the public and recently gained high-level attention from Congress.

The project will begin early this fall and last around nine months, focusing on identifying available data, how to gather more data in future, and how NASA can analyze the findings to try to move the needle on scientific understanding.

"Over the decades, NASA has answered the call to tackle some of the most perplexing mysteries we know of, and this is no different," Daniel Evans, the NASA scientist responsible for coordinating the study, told reporters on a call.

While NASA probes and rovers scour the solar system for the fossils of ancient microbes, and its astronomers look for so-called "technosignatures" on distant planets for signs of intelligent civilizations, this is the first time the agency will investigate unexplained phenomena in Earth's skies.

With its access to a broad range of scientific tools, NASA is well placed not just to demystify UFOs and deepen scientific understanding, but also to find ways to mitigate the phenomena, a key part of its mission to ensure the safety of aircraft, said the agency's chief scientist, Thomas Zurbuchen.

The announcement comes as the field of UFO study, once a poorly-regarded research backwater, is gaining more mainstream traction.

Last month, Congress held a public hearing into UFOs, while a US intelligence report last year cataloged 144 sightings that it said could not be explained. It did not rule out alien origin.

NASA's study will be independent of the Pentagon's Airborne Object Identification and Management Synchronization Group, but the space agency "has coordinated widely across the government regarding how to apply the tools of science," it said in a statement.

A paucity in the number of UFO observations make it difficult at present for the scientific community to draw conclusions.

Therefore, said astrophysicist David Spergel, who will lead the research, the first task of the group would be identifying the extent of data out there from sources including civilians, government, nonprofits and companies.

Another overarching goal of NASA is to deepen credibility in this field of study.

"There is a great deal of stigma associated with UAP among our naval aviators and aviation community," said Evans.

"One of the things we tangentially hope to do as part of this study, simply by talking about it in the open, is to help to remove some of the stigma associated with it, and that will yield obviously, increased access to data, more reports, more sightings."

(FILES) This file handout photograph released by Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) via Jiji Press on November 13, 2019 shows the asteroid Ryugu after Hayabusa2 departed its orbit around a distant asteroid and head for Earth. Asteroid dust collected by a Japanese space probe contains organic material that shows some of the building blocks of life on Earth may have been formed in space, scientists said on June 10, 2022. (Photo by Handout / JAXA via Jiji Press / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE

Asteroid samples contain 'clues to origin of life': Japan scientists

Innovations

Asteroid dust collected by a Japanese space probe contains organic material that shows some of the building blocks of life on Earth may have been formed in space, scientists said Friday.

Pristine material from the asteroid Ryugu was brought back to Earth in 2020 after a six-year mission to the celestial body around 300 million kilometres away.

But scientists are only just beginning to discover its secrets in the first studies on small portions of the 5.4 grams (0.2 ounces) of dust and dark, tiny rocks.

In one paper published Friday, a group of researchers led by Okayama University in western Japan said they had discovered "amino acids and other organic matter that could give clues to the origin of life on Earth".

"The discovery of protein-forming amino acids is important, because Ryugu has not been exposed to the Earth's biosphere, like meteorites, and as such their detection proves that at least some of the building blocks of life on Earth could have been formed in space environments," the study said.

The team said they found 23 different types of amino acid while examining the sample collected by Japan's Hayabusa-2 probe in 2019.

The dust and rocks were stirred up when the fridge-sized spacecraft fired an "impactor" into the asteroid.

"The Ryugu sample has the most primitive characteristics of any natural sample available to mankind, including meteorites," the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) said in a statement.

It is believed that part of the material was created about five million years after the birth of the solar system and has not been heated above 100 degrees Celsius (210 degrees Fahrenheit).

Another study published in the US-based journal "Science" said the material has "a chemical composition that more closely resembles the Sun's photosphere than other natural samples".

Kensei Kobayashi, an astrobiology expert and professor emeritus at Yokohama National University, hailed the discovery.

"Scientists have been questioning how organic matter -- including amino acids -- was created or where it came from, and the fact that amino acids were discovered in the sample offers a reason to think that amino acids were brought to Earth from outer space," he told AFP.

Another mainstream theory about the origin of amino acids is that they were created in Earth's primitive atmosphere through lightning strikes, for example, after Earth cooled down.

kh/kaf/jta

US actor Matthew McConaughey holds a photo of Alithia Ramirez, a 10 year old student who was killed in the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School, while speaking during the daily briefing in the James S Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on June 7, 2022. McConaughey, a native of Uvalde, Texas, has been meeting with Senators to discuss gun control reform following the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School.

Matthew McConaughey urges 'gun responsibility' at White House podium

Real People

Actor Matthew McConaughey took the podium at the White House to deliver an emotional appeal for "gun responsibility" following the massacre at an elementary school in his hometown of Uvalde, Texas.

"We are in a window of opportunity right now that we have not been in before, a window where it seems like real change, real change can happen," the 52-year-old McConaughey told reporters.

McConaughey, who visited Uvalde and met with families of the victims after 19 children and two teachers were shot dead on May 24, spoke powerfully about some of the children who died.

He displayed a colorful drawing made by Alithia Ramirez, a 10-year-old who had wanted to attend art school in Paris one day.

McConaughey also pointed out a pair of green Converse shoes held by his wife, Camila Alves, that belonged to another of the victims, Maite Rodriguez.

"Green Converse with a heart on the right toe," McConaughey said. "These are the same green Converse on her feet that turned out to be the only clear evidence that could identify her after the shooting.

"How about that?" he said, pounding the lectern in a hushed White House briefing room.

McConaughey, who met with President Joe Biden and members of Congress before addressing the White House press corps, said the families of the victims told him that they wanted to make "their loss matter."

"They want their children's dreams to live on," he said.

"We consoled so many people," he said. "And you know what they all said? 'We want secure and safe schools and we want gun laws that won't make it so easy for the bad guys to get these damn guns.'

"We need to invest in mental health care. We need safer schools," he said. "We need to restore our American values and we need responsible gun ownership.

"We need background checks," he continued. "We need to raise the minimum age to purchase an AR-15 rifle to 21."

- 'Life preservation problem' -

McConaughey, who won a best actor Oscar in 2014 for the film "Dallas Buyers Club" and has flirted with running for governor of Texas, said it should be a "nonpartisan issue."

"As divided as our country is, the gun responsibility issue is one that we agree on," he said.

"There is not a Democratic or Republican value in one single act of these shooters," he said. "Can both sides see beyond the political problem at hand and admit that we have a life preservation problem on our hands?"

Gun violence is common in America but the nationwide shock over recent mass shootings at a grocery store in Buffalo and the school in Uvalde has once again spurred calls for action.

Democratic Senator Chris Murphy has been working with a bipartisan group of senators on reform measures -- a heavy lift, with many Republicans routinely rejecting most forms of gun control.

A recent CBS News/YouGov poll found that 62 percent of Americans back a nationwide ban on semi-automatic rifles. Support is even higher for background checks on all gun buyers (81 percent).

US gun violence has killed more than 18,000 people so far in 2022, including nearly 10,300 suicides, according to the Gun Violence Archive.

cl/sst

A model walks the runway for Louis Vuitton's Cruise 2023 Fashion Show at the Salk Institute in San Diego, California

New York sneaker expo presents some of Virgil Abloh's last works

Real People

Some of Virgil Abloh's final creations will be on public display in New York in an expo that also confers further mystique to the lucrative world of specialty sneakers.

The show will present 47 customized Nike "Air Force 1" sneakers designed by Abloh and assembled at Louis Vuitton's manufacturing facility in Venice.

A barrier-breaking figure in fashion who rose to become Louis Vuitton's first Black creative director, Abloh died in November at the age of 41 due to a rare form of cancer.

A close associate of Kanye West, Abloh brought street wear and a less elitist approach to the world of luxury.

The exhibit comes after a February Sotheby's auction raised $25 million from the sale of some 200 Abloh Air Force One sneakers for a scholarship fund set up in Abloh's honor to support aspiring designers of Black, African American or African descent.

Each of the sneakers contains the famous Nike swoosh in compositions across the color palette, with some also featuring personalized details such as the flag of Ghana, a tribute to Abloh's heritage.

Another shoe contains the phrase "tourist vs. purist," an "Ablohism" that the designer used to describe the relationship in art and culture between the expert/specialist (purist) and the general public audience (tourist).

jmb/jh

US singer-songwriter Patti Smith performs on stage after receiving the highest French order of merit "Legion d’Honneur" during the "Night of Ideas" event at the Brooklyn Public Library in New York, May 21, 2022. She followed up with a performance of her music and some reading of her poetry. She was joined on stage by her daughter, Jesse Paris Smith, on piano and Lenny Kaye, on guitar.

'A great joy': punk laureate Patti Smith granted France's highest honor

Real People

As a child, punk-poet icon Patti Smith was instructed never to accept anything from strangers -- which meant one day she was forced to decline a campaign button she coveted and everyone else had.

While dejectedly walking to her New Jersey family home, she vowed to her future self that she would soon acquire her own medals to add to her lapel.

On Saturday, the 75-year-old rock legend made good on that promise, as France's ambassador to the United States Philippe Etienne bestowed her with the Legion d'Honneur, his country's highest order of merit.

Smith regaled a rapt audience with that touching anecdote after her medal ceremony in central Brooklyn, where crowds gathered for the "Night of Ideas," an annual marathon of philosophy and performance put on by the French Embassy's Villa Albertine in partnership with the Brooklyn Public Library.

"It's an indescribable honor, I understand the gravity of it," she told AFP backstage, after delivering a spirited performance alongside her daughter Jesse on piano and her long-time collaborator and guitarist Lenny Kaye.

"For someone... who has been greatly shaped by French culture, French literature, French art, and film, just my whole life -- it's especially meaningful," she continued.

"I embraced France my whole life, and to receive an embrace like this in return is a wonderful thing."

For more than half-a-century, Smith has been celebrated as an artist's artist, adored for her music, songwriting, poetry and deeply introspective, raw writing that in 2010 won the US National Book Award for her stirring memoir "Just Kids."

The book sees Smith excavate memories from her relationship with Robert Mapplethorpe, the late photographer with whom she shared a deep friendship, romance and creative bond.

"I feel like it's very fitting to have such an accolade here in Brooklyn -- it's only a couple of subway stops away that Robert Mapplethorpe and I lived at 20-years-old," she told the audience. "At night, when Robert couldn't sleep, he would ask me to read him French poetry... I remember those nights so clearly."

Smith also felt a particular kinship to the venue of Saturday's ceremony.

"It's also fitting that it should be a library, because coming from a very rural area of South Jersey, with very little culture in the '50s and mid-'60s, I depended on the library to open and expand my world," she said.

In typical Smith fashion, she honored the artists who came before her in closing her acceptance speech, having opened with a performance of her 1996 song "Wing."

The rock laureate read the final letter by spiritual-surrealist poet Rene Daumal, which he wrote to his wife before his death.

"Seeing that you are nothing you desire to become," Smith read. "In desiring to become, you begin to live."

- People make change -

Following the ceremony Smith -- donning her signature black blazer atop a black vest, along with combat boots and her long, gray hair flowing as a few small braids framed her face -- delighted fans with a show that included her hit "People Have The Power," which she wrote with her late husband, Fred "Sonic" Smith.

Speaking to AFP, she said that while "artists can always inspire people, they can rally people, give people hope... in the end, it's not artists who make change, it's the people."

"Through voting, through initiative, through mass marches -- it's the people that make change."

Citing the ongoing pandemic and the "pain of war," Smith said "we are living in a very troubled world," underscoring climate change as the great crisis of our time.

"There are heat waves right now that are unprecedented... there's tremendous famine, and violent weather patterns we've never seen," she said.

"The only way it can be solved is a global effort, and I think more than anything... that is the most important thing that people have to address.

"However small the gesture, every gesture is important."

Smith is set in the fall to release a new book entitled "A Book Of Days," a visual collection inspired by her beloved Instagram account.

These days "I'm writing just as always," she told AFP, "writing songs, writing poems, writing another book -- I'm always busy, always doing something."

After her performance, Smith said the medal inspired her to do "more work, better work," and it "felt very fitting to work right after I received it."

"I still feel like I've got a little, you know, that post-performance adrenaline," she smiled, "but also just the excitement and happiness... of receiving such an honor."

"That I would be chosen to, you know, be a sort of a mini-ambassador for the country is really a great joy for me," she said.

"So you leave me a happy girl."

mdo/aha

Son of the founder of the founder of Pagani, an Italian manufacturer of sports cars and carbon fiber components, communications chief Christopher Pagani poses at the Pagani factory in San Cesario sul Panaro, near Modena, Northern Italy on May 27, 2022. If Tuscany has Chianti, the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna has "Motor Valley", an area that boasts one of the highest concentrations of luxury sports cars and motorbikes in the world. The so-called Land of Motors, covering around 1,000 square kilometres of prime agricultural land roughly between Bologna and Modena, is home to Lamborghini and Ferrari, Maserati and Ducati, in addition to less well-known brands.

Italy's 'Motor Valley' proves fertile ground for supercars

Lifestyle

If Tuscany has Chianti, the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna has "Motor Valley", an area that boasts one of the highest concentrations of luxury sports cars and motorbikes in the world.

The so-called Land of Motors, covering around 1,000 square kilometres of prime agricultural land roughly between Bologna and Modena, is home to Lamborghini and Ferrari, Maserati and Ducati, in addition to less well-known brands.

Every year -- with a hiatus for coronavirus -- industry types and fans flock to Modena for a weekend to talk business and admire the spectacular cars and bikes displayed around town.

Among those on show this year was a Pagani Huayra, a futuristic hypercar produced just a few kilometres away in Pagani's base at San Cesario sul Panaro, where vehicles are made to measure -- and start at a cool 2.6 million euros ($2.8 million).

Christopher Pagani, the son of the founder and communications chief, told AFP it takes between eight and nine months to manufacture a car, with customers normally waiting two years between order and delivery.

"In 2022 we are producing some 40 to 45 cars. They are all special because every customer has the opportunity to get in touch with us, visit us, and go on this journey," he said.

In the factory -- dubbed the "workshop" -- a few dozen mostly young people work in the hushed and ordered environment of a science lab.

For the brand, weight is everything and they use 40 different types of carbon fibre, as well as titanium and aluminium to make the car as light as possible.

But Pagani said talks were underway with clients about a potential electric version, even if would be heavier due to the battery, as part of a trend towards greener vehicles.

- Best place to be -

Pagani's father, Horacio, founded the company in 1998 after working at Lamborghini, another of Italy's top luxury brands based in the area.

According to legend, Ferruccio Lamborghini, the wealthy owner of a tractor factory, turned his hand to sports cars in the 1950s after complaining about the Ferraris he owned.

Enzo Ferrari is said to have told him that if he didn't like what he made, he should go and build his own.

Ferrari's Maranello site is located outside Modena, while the region also boasts Dallara, which provides cars for IndyCar racing in the United States, and motorbike firm Energica.

"The success dates a long way back, it is the fruit of several generations," said Andrea Corsini, who handles transport, infrastructure and tourism for the Emilia Romagna region.

The name "Motor Valley" alludes to California's Silicon Valley, where a grouping of tech companies drew talent and cash.

Here, manufacturers found a ready skills base among farmers who, in the immediate aftermath of World War II, had to learn to repair their own machinery.

Today, the area comprises 16,000 companies, four racing tracks, six training centres, and employs more than 90,000 people, according to think tank Riparte l'Italia.

"In terms of job opportunities and contacts with companies, this is the best place to be," said 24-year-old Emilio, studying car engineering in the south of Italy, who came to Modena for the weekend.

The sector records a turnover of 16 billion euros a year, of which seven billion is in exports, and is in good health, with Bugatti, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Bentley and Porsche all posting record results in 2021.

It was also here that Bugatti produced in the early 1990s its celebrated B110 GT, sold for a staggering 500 million lire (around 260,000 euros at the time).

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