Latest news with #Guadalajara
Euronews
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Euronews
Death of French rapper Werenoi sparks debate about music and Islam
Should an artist's faith determine what happens to their work when they die? The death of one of France's most successful rappers has raised this question. French rapper Werenoi, whose real name was Jérémy Bana Owona, died on 17 May 2025, aged 31. He was France's top album seller in 2023 and 2024, and his death shocked both the music industry and the public. 'Rest in peace my man. A news that saddens me and courage to the loved ones especially', popstar Aya Nakamura wrote on social media. Following the release of his first song 'Guadalajara' in 2021, Werenoi quickly rose to great success. His 2024 album 'Carré' was named best rap album at the Flammes Awards, and he was the opening act for Burna Boy at the Stade de France in April. With more than 7 million monthly listeners on Spotify, he was an example of a vibrant francophone music scene that keeps growing worldwide, according to the platform's new report on francophone content. Culture minister Rachida Dati called the rapper 'the icon of a generation.' 'In an age of overexposure and ever-present social media, he had opted for privacy. Cultivating discretion, he revealed himself only through his lyrics', Dati said in a statement on 20 May. One of the only known facts about Werenoi's private life was his faith. The rapper was Muslim. In the hours following his death, debates erupted on social media over what should be done with his music according to Islam. 'Werenoi was a Muslim, and we invite you to listen to his music as little as possible, out of respect for his faith," online rap publication Raplume said in a social media post that has since been deleted. 'Avoid streaming Werenoi's tracks, he was a Muslim, it's for his faith', one user said on X. A tribute to the artist by French rap radio station Skyrock elicited similar criticism. Other fans felt that listening to Werenoi's music was a way of paying their respects and ensuring that his legacy lives on. 'When he was alive, Werenoi was making music, going on Skyrock and selling albums, so it's only natural that when he dies, the rap world should pay tribute to him by playing his music', one user wrote on X. The rapper's team and relatives have not publicly weighed in on the debate, leaving fans to decipher mixed messages. Werenoi's music videos were removed from YouTube, but the audio versions still remain available on the platform. A source close to the rapper told French newspaper Le Parisien that the videos had only been temporarily hidden to allow the family to grieve. Werenoi's producer later denied this claim. Rumours even said the artist's entire discography would soon disappear from all streaming platforms, but this has yet to happen. The teachings of Islam are up to interpretation. Many on social media argue that music is haram, meaning it is forbidden by Islamic law. Listening to Werenoi's music after his death would bring him sins in his grave. But the word 'music' does not actually appear in the Quran and many artists around the world are practising Muslims. 'The prohibition of music by some branches of Islam is not based on any consensus but rather on controversial interpretations of certain suras and hadiths [statements attributed to the prophet Muhammad]', musicologist Luis Velasco-Pufleau wrote in a 2017 blogpost. Fundamentalist Islamic movements like Salafism and Wahhabism strictly prohibit music while other traditions, like Sufism, are more lenient. There have been similar controversies in the past. The death in 2019 of British rapper Cadet, who converted to Islam at 15, also ignited online discussions on the future of his music - much to the dismay of some users. 'When anyone else passes away Muslims will send their condolences as normal... But when it's a Muslim [rapper] we go into theological debates about sharing his music etc', London-based imam Shabbir Hassan posted on X (then Twitter) at the time. 'Just take a lesson from his death and make du'a [a Muslim prayer] for him. That will benefit us/him the most.' For some, this question tends to be overly politicised. 'It's fascinating how cultural topics can raise this kind of political and religious debates,' streamer iliesomg said on decolonial YouTube channel Paroles d'honneur. He said that listening to Werenoi's music should be a personal decision for Muslim believers, guided by their own approach to spirituality. Numbers show that Werenoi's audience, Muslim or not, does not seem ready to let go of his art. Sales for his last album 'Diamant noir', released in April, rose by 72% in the week after his death, making it the most listened album in France. After winning Palme d'Or at Cannes for his stunning thriller It Was Just An Accident, one of Iran's most celebrated filmmakers Jafar Panahi has called for the fall of the Tehran regime, against the backdrop of escalating conflict between Israel and Iran. Panahi posted a powerful message on Instagram that appears to push for the toppling of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. In his impassioned appeal, Panahi urges the United Nations and the international community to "immediately and decisively compel both regimes to cease their military attacks and end the killing of civilians.' The filmmaker, whose current whereabouts remain unknown, goes further: 'The only possible way to escape is the immediate dissolution of this system and the establishment of a people's responsive and democratic government.' Une publication partagée par official jafar panahi (@ While strongly condemning the Israeli aggression, Jafar Panahi takes aim at the Islamic Republic: 'An attack against my homeland, Iran, is unacceptable. Israel has violated the integrity of the country and should be tried as a wartime aggressors before an international tribunal. This position in no way means that we should ignore four decades of mismanagement, corruption, oppression, tyranny and incompetence on the part of the Islamic Republic." He concludes by saying: 'This government has neither the power, will, nor legitimacy required to run the country or manage crises. Staying in this regime means the continued fall and the continuation of the repression.' The 64-year-old dissident director has been imprisoned twice in Iran and banned from filmmaking for his anti-regime stance and 'propaganda against the state'. He spent seven months behind bars in 2022 and 2023 for demonstrating against the imprisonment of his friend and fellow filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof. Panahi has continued to make films in defiance of the repressive authorities and is best known for films like This Is Not a Film, No Bears and Taxi Tehran, which won the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival in 2015. After winning the Palme d'Or on 24 May, Panahi returned to Iran, despite the threats against him. As he left the airport, he was greeted by supporters. One person was heard shouting "woman, life, freedom" as Panahi passed through the airport - a phrase that became the slogan for protests that broke out across Iran following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody in 2022. Panahi recently travelled to Australia where he won the Sydney Film Festival's top prize on Sunday for It Was Just An Accident. The Palme d'Or winning film, which was inspired by his time in Iranian prison, focuses on a group of former political prisoners who kidnap the man they believe to be their former torturer. In our review of It Was Just An Accident, we said: 'Panahi signs a taut, gripping and utterly engrossing thriller that doubles as an indictment of the Islamist Republic and calls out the sins of state despotism. (...) Not only is it a richly deserved Palme d'Or, the last scene will make your jaw drop to the floor.' Check out our full Culture Catch-Up on Jafar Panahi and the politics of Iranian film. It Was Just An Accident will be released in France on 1 October. Mubi has acquired distribution rights to the film in the UK, Ireland, Germany and Austria, and Neon has bought the rights for North America. Release dates in these territories are TBD.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
Don't shoot: How one tequila made its name by taking its time
Mexico is not the Mexico of American movies. It is not sleepy and sepia-tinged, or filled with ancient cars and men with gaps in their teeth. In Guadalajara, there is a city sweet with the smell of jacaranda blossom, where a soft light pools in plazas where old men lean on colonial buildings with their newspapers the size of flags. It is a place of boys on bicycles cycling with flowers in their grasp, of idle guitar players blinking in the sun, of buildings with fading paint but perfect tiling. Mexico is a beauty. Not far from Guadalajara, under an hour if you're gunning it, is Tequila, the place that gave the drink its name. It is a technicolour town of life in high definition. Buses shaped like bottles and barrels cough along the streets. Buildings are in pinks and blues and the faded amber of sun-baked soil. At the right time of year, four Voladores — flying men — tie ropes to their waists and in the name of fertility fling themselves from a white-washed wooden pole, perhaps 130ft high, and together twirl around and round the pole until finally they reach the ground. They move like leaves on a breeze. Sellers shout; buyers hustle back. The drink the town made famous is not just liquid but a lifeblood. It is an industry that quenches thirst but also nourishes. Drinks giants and their warehouses fill the outskirts, but there too are smaller producers, those whose work is to refine, to improve. Not just to maintain a reputation but to better it. Tequila is a protected denomination of origin — it cannot be made anywhere but here — and there is a history in it that producers are, to varying degrees, paying tribute to. Some history, too. What is drunk now can trace its past back to the indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica, who fermented the sap of the agave plant to make a pulque, a milky, alcoholic drink thing drunk by the rich and religious. The Spanish democratised things in the 16th century — out of thirst. When their brandy ran dry, they turned to agave and distilled pulque into a primitive mezcal, later eventually settling on the blue agave to make it. Tequila proper was born, and in 1795, King Carlos IV of Spain granted the first official licence to commercially produce the stuff. The blue agave is the thing; to be called tequila — and not mezcal, raicilla or bacanora, all made with agave too — the spirit must be at least 51 per cent blue agave. The better tequilas are made of it exclusively. And the best tequilas take time, lots of it. Bad tequila is born from a rush; good tequila is a reward for patience. Time was heavy on Jose 'Pepe' Hermosillo's mind in the early 1990s, when his father died. How do you preserve a legacy, protect a family name? Hermosillo's answer was tequila. Obvious, really: his family had been in it since the very beginning, in the late 1700s. It was work that sustained seven generations; Hermosillo was raised around it. But, with his thoughts on his father, he wanted to create something beyond what those seven generations had managed. And so, in 1997, the first bottle of Casa Noble was released. That could have been it; that could have been Hermosillo's tribute realised, completed. Instead he decided it would be a starting point. The aim was not just a good tequila and a nod to the old man — he wanted something better. Super premium tequila was still, back then, in its infancy, perhaps a decade old, depending on who you ask. Hermosillo thought he might just take things a step further. It meant, of course, those two touchstones of time and patience. And change. Where countless tequila producers source their agave from wholesalers, Hermosillo uses only that grown on the 3000 acres of his organic estate (pesticides are banned; waste is used as fertiliser; sustainability is everything). They grow in soil heavy with gravel, which means they grow more slowly, taking more than a decade to reach maturity — usually 11 years, but sometimes 12. He does not rush the cooking of the agave cores — piñas, they're called — instead steaming them for 36 hours in traditional masonry ovens, slowing bringing out their sugars for fermenting. Afterwards, the oven doors are kept shut for another 10 hours, letting the agave cool. But more time is needed: after the piñas are pressed in a screw mill, to get the juice, they're fermented for five days in stainless steel vats, Hermosillo preferring to use only native airborne yeast, where others buy in commercial yeast. Why? He says the air picks up the smells and flavours of the land. You can taste it in the drink, he says, the mango and lime groves, a little of the Mexican soul. Bad tequila is born from a rush; good tequila is a reward for patience. There is more, and more patience needed. Most tequilas are distilled twice — it's a legal requirement — but Casa Noble is triple distilled, to take the edges off, smooth and settle the alcohol. More time. It means the unaged Blanco — clear as window — sings with its citrus, without the burn of the booze. But for the other Casa Noble expressions, next comes the ageing, in lightly charred barrels made from new French oak. Casa Noble is not alone in this but it was the first: most producers age with second fill, heavily charred ex-Bourbon barrels. They work but the wood, Hermosillo reasons, overpowers the flavour of the spirit, and thus where it comes from. The Reposado sits it in these for under a year — one day under, exactly, where most Repsados do about half that — while they leave the Añejo for two years, and in the blends of the Marques de Casa Noble, some linger for as long as five. Time rewards once again: with every year of ageing, the blue agave citrus note softens into vanilla and caramel and butterscotch, and then further into fried fruit, raisins and sultanas. It as if someone is turning a dial — and yet, what's there with no ageing remains after even the longest time. The oak does not obscure the family character. They are, though, drinks with different intentions; the lighter, younger spirits working particularly well in cocktails (margaritas, old fashioneds), the older bottles made to sip. They would be wasted otherwise; Casa Noble's heaving trophy cabinet is a testament to their elegance. But with them all, there is a sense that they should be savoured, relished, drunk slowly and surely, not thrown back without a thought. But of course that's the intention: Casa Noble built itself by taking its time. It's only fair they expect its drinkers to do so too. Shooting it back? That only belongs in one place — those out-of-date American movies. For more information, visit Ingredients 2 oz Casa Noble Blanco tequila 1 oz agave nectar 1 oz lime juice Lime wedge Method Place ingredients, except lime wedge, into a shaker with ice. Shake until chilled. Strain into glass (salt rim optional). Garnish with lime wedge. Ingredients 1.5 oz Casa Noble Blanco tequila 0.75 oz triple sec 0.5 oz lime juice 0.5 oz pomegranate juice Orange peel Method Combine all ingredients, except orange peel, into mixing glass and stir. Strain into glass over ice. Finish with flamed orange peel. Ingredients 2 oz Casa Noble Blanco tequila 0.75 oz orange-chamomile simple syrup (see below) 0.5 oz lemon juice 0.25 oz spiced rum 2 dashes bitters Orange zest Tarragon sprig Method Combine all ingredients, except orange zest and tarragon, into mixing glass and stir. Strain into glass over ice. Squeeze orange zest; rub around the rim and drop into glass. Garnish with 1 cup water 1 cup sugar 3 chamomile tea bags 1 orange tea bag Method Combine sugar and water in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally until sugar dissolves and water begins to boil. Remove from heat; add tea bags. Let steep for 1 hour, then cool.
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Daily Mail
Brit traveller, 36, gunned down in 'murder capital' of Mexico was in 'wrong place at the wrong time', coroner told
A British traveller who was shot dead alongside two friends in Mexico 's 'murder capital' was unlawfully killed, a coroner concluded today. Ben Corser, 36, was sitting in the back of a car outside a supermarket in Colima, western Mexico, in May 2022 when he was fatally shot alongside two others in the vehicle, a court heard. The software engineer's father told a coroner the trio were 'tragically in the wrong place at the wrong time'. Emma Hillson, assistant coroner for Cornwall, said the 36-year-old Briton had been travelling around Mexico since January 2022. She added: 'He had been very happy and enjoying a sociable time. 'He had lived in different parts of Mexico, becoming part of the community. 'He was living with an American-Mexican family, with two other young men, Claudio and Alfredo, in Colima. 'They were skateboarders and Ben joined them in skateboarding. On the evening of the incident Ben, from St Just, Cornwall, and Claudio had returned from a trip to Guadalajara and Alfredo picked them up in his car before the trio stopped off at a supermarket. The coroner told the hearing in Truro: 'While the three were in the car, outside the supermarket, all three of them, including Ben who was sat in the back seat, were shot dead.' Mrs Hillson said police reports included one witness statement, from a woman who described hearing gunshots and dropped down to the floor before seeing a van with the driver's door open. Police obtained evidence from video cameras around the scene which showed a grey vehicle with no identifying features. The coroner added: 'Three years have now passed since this death. 'I am satisfied it is unlikely that further information will be forthcoming.' Cornwall Coroner's Court heard Mr Corser was taken to hospital unconscious but pronounced dead on arrival there. A post-mortem examination found he had received a fatal shot wound to his chest. According to local media reports at the time of Mr Corser's death, there has been a surge in violence in the region after the Colima drug cartel switched allegiance to the Sinaloan cartel, the country's dominant trafficking syndicate. Mr Corser's father, Andrew, told the coroner the family had received 'no explanation or reason given' for the shooting, and there was 'no suggestion of robbery, kidnapping or anything else.' 'Police have not passed to us any information apart from the cause of death', the former primary school head teacher said. 'Apparently there has been a dramatic upsurge of violence in Colima. 'It is most likely this was a question of Ben, Claudio and Alfredo being tragically in the wrong place at the wrong time.' Mr Corser asked for information from the Mexican police on their investigation and what lines of inquiry they were pursuing in relation to the case. A police report read to the inquest said a homicide investigation had been launched following the deaths, with evidence gathered at the scene. It referred to the witness statement of a local woman who heard gunshots and threw herself to the ground before seeing a van with the driver's door open but could not give any details on those responsible. Video surveillance from the area showed a grey vehicle with no make or licence plate visible, Mrs Hillson said. 'Investigations are continuing to be carried out,' she read. During the post-mortem examination, a projectile was recovered from Mr Corser's body and stored as evidence, the court heard. Concluding the hearing, Mrs Hillson thanked Mr Corser's family - father Andrew Corser, mother Lorraine Downes and brother Tom Corser - and friends for their attendance and for bringing a picture of him to court. Earlier this month, the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) provided a statement to the coroner's court that 'it was unlikely further information would be forthcoming due to the time passed since the death'. In 2024, Colima in Mexico ranked as the world's most dangerous city with a homicide rate of 140 per 100,000 inhabitants. Seven of the 10 cities with the highest murder rates worldwide are found in Mexico. FCDO advises against all but essential travel to the state of Colima, except the city of Manzanillo accessed by sea or air via the Manzanillo-Costalegre International Airport. Mr Corser's shooting came two months after British businessman Chris Cleave, 54, was killed in his car in front of his 14-year-old daughter at a beach resort near Cancun in eastern Mexico. In a tribute issued after Mr Corser's death, his family described him as having a 'breadth that is rare today'. They said: 'He held first class degrees in both fine art and mathematics, he was an artist, a poet, a computer user, maker, coder and programmer, a skateboarder, a sea swimmer, wild camper, a festival goer, an actor, a yoga lover, a photographer, a music maker, a dancer.'
Travel Weekly
3 days ago
- Business
- Travel Weekly
Jalisco's $1 billion tourism boom
Meagan Drillinger If there was ever a time for travel advisors to have Jalisco on the radar, it's now. This month, Gov. Pablo Lemus Navarro announced a wave of investment (more than $1 billion in private capital) set to transform Jalisco's hotel infrastructure by 2028. With 38 new hotels (12 to open before the 2026 FIFA World Cup) and 4,578 additional rooms planned across Guadalajara, Puerto Vallarta and Costalegre, the state is making a play to cement itself as a tourism hub in Mexico. Among the largest investments: Hyatt's $295 million toward three new Puerto Vallarta hotels; IHG's $165 million for seven properties; and Hilton's $90 million for four. Luxury players like Chable will also expand into the region, with a $230 million project in Tomatlan, part of Jalisco's still relatively untapped Costalegre coast. Costalegre, once a hush-hush hideaway for barefoot luxury and low-key celebrities, is now positioned to become Mexico's next big luxury destination, and state leaders are well aware. "Costalegre has always been exclusive," said Miguel Andres Hernandez Arteaga, undersecretary of tourism for the state of Jalisco in an interview at the 49th edition of the Tianguis Turistico in April. "Now we're working on nautical routes that connect Los Cabos, Punta Perula and Tamarindo to create seamless experiences for private yachts. We already have marinas in Barra de Navidad, La Manzanilla and Careyes." But it's not just the coast drawing attention. "We're bringing the other side of Jalisco to travelers," Hernandez Arteaga said. "Yes, people know us for mariachi and tequila, but now we want to highlight raicilla, a spirit that has been made here for more than 20 years. And our 12 Magical Towns each offer something different. There's so much more in Jalisco than the beach." Infrastructure improvements The diversification is supported by an infrastructure strategy that's already underway. Guadalajara's international airport has expanded both domestic and international routes. A new airport in Chalacatepec is also in development. It's currently private but projected to open to commercial traffic within a few years, according to Hernandez Arteaga. Connectivity is improving by land, too. The newly completed highway between Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta is helping forge new multi-destination itineraries. "With the new highway, we're looking to promote two destinations in one trip," Hernandez Arteaga said. "We have to be smart, because each destination has a different market, a different daily rate and a different travel rhythm." The numbers back this up. In the first four months of 2025, 11 million visitors arrived in Jalisco, a 1.6% year-over-year increase. The state already ranked second nationally in hotel offerings, contributing 7.4% of Mexico's total GDP, according to the federal Ministry of Tourism.
Malay Mail
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Malay Mail
Under probe for glorifying drug cartels, Mexican band releases song with positive message to clear name
GUADALAJARA (Mexico), June 17 — A popular Mexican band under investigation for glorifying a wanted drug lord has released an anti-narco song in a bid to clear its name. The band, Los Alegres del Barranco, is accused of condoning crime over a song praising Nemesio Oseguera, head of the powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel in western Mexico. In April, the United States, which has designated the cartel as a terrorist organisation, revoked the band's visas for displaying images of Oseguera during a concert and last month prosecutors in Jalisco state opened a probe into the group. In a bid to curry favour with the authorities, the band released a new song on YouTube on Sunday titled 'El Consejo' (The Advice). Its lyrics warn that there are only two avenues open to those who become involved in drug trafficking: 'the pantheon (of dead traffickers) or prison.' The Jalisco prosecutor's office reacted positively to the new track, which had garnered nearly 80,000 views on Monday, saying that 'by spreading a positive message in a song, there is a possibility that the investigation will be suspended.' However, the band remains under investigation for suspected illicit funding, prosecutors said. Several Mexican states have cracked down on 'narcocorridos,' a controversial subgenre of regional Mexican folk music that includes shout outs to drug traffickers. Earlier this month, the popular Los Tucanes de Tijuana band was fined more than $36,000 for performing songs glorifying drug cartels in the northern city of Chihuahua. Performers of drug ballads have themselves also been targets of gang violence. In late May, five members of the group Fugitivo were found dead in Tamaulipas state, days after being hired to perform a concert. Their deaths were blamed on suspected drug traffickers. — AFP
