Star trumpeter Ibrahim Maalouf is being investigated by French police for kissing a 14-year-old girl while she was his intern, a justice official said Friday.

The "sadistic" mistreatment of scores of models who were forced to wait in a dark, cramped staircase for hours at a Paris fashion week casting has sparked fresh criticism of how the industry functions.

Rio de Janeiro's carnival crowned a champion of its elite samba school parade on Wednesday, capping festivities marred by two accidents that injured more than 30 people.

Fashion brand Balenciaga said Wednesday it had sacked its casting agency amid a furore over the "sadistic" mistreatment of models at Paris fashion week.

YouTube on Tuesday unveiled a streaming television service offering bundles of live channels, in a direct challenge by the Google-owned network to traditional cable and pay TV.

YouTube TV was tailored for younger generations seeking news, films and more programs without subscribing to cable or satellite service, according to YouTube chief executive Susan Wojcicki.

Lady Gaga has stepped in to replace the pregnant Beyonce at Coachella, ensuring that the premier music festival has a woman headliner for the first time in a decade.

Actor Hugh Jackman has not turned his nose up at the chance to sample Taiwan's famous snack "stinky tofu" as he tours Taipei to promote his last film in the superhero "Wolverine" franchise.

Jackman and Patrick Stewart arrived in the Taiwanese capital over the weekend for the local premier of "Logan," which sees Wolverine reunited with his ailing father figure Professor X and introduced to Laura, the mutant daughter created in a Mexican lab. 

Rio carnival organizers insisted the show will go on with a second round of samba parades Monday after a truck carrying a float ran into bystanders, injuring 20.

The accident on the first night of the elite samba school championship occurred late Sunday when the colorful float at the tail end of the Paraiso do Tuiuti school swerved on the crowded runway, crushing people against a fence.

The shocking best picture mix-up wasn't the only Oscars night flub.

"Game of Thrones" actor Neil Fingleton, who was named Britain's tallest man, has died of suspected heart failure at 36, according to the London-based Tall Persons Club.