SOFIA , Dec. 9 (Xinhua) -- The 42nd Sofia International Book Fair opened in the National Palace of Culture (NPC) on Tuesday, gathering together more than 200 exhibitors from Bulgaria, Hungary, Iran, Romania, Russia , Serbia and Spain.
"The significant international participation is a proof of the success of the fair and the importance of this initiative for Bulgaria," the country's President Rosen Plevneliev said at the opening ceremony.
He was glad to see many school buses in front of the NPC, and many children would get acquainted with interesting books from around the world in the coming days, Plevneliev said.
Vesselin Todorov, President of the Bulgarian Book Association, the event organizer , said this is the biggest fair in its 46-year history, with exhibitors placed from the ground floor to the fourth floor, and almost all the NPC occupied by books and accompanying events.
He said Romania is the official guest of the six-day event, with a huge booth and over 40 visiting writers and poets.
Miroslav Borshosh, NPC's Executive Director, said the four floors full of books and exhibitors proved that Bulgarian people still love books.
Alexandru Oprean , Romania's State Secretary of Cultural Ministry, who also attended the ceremony, said he hoped the cultural bridges between the two neighboring countries would become increasingly shorter in the future.
Guests wait in line to audition at the Universal Studios Hollywood open casting call auditions for a new attraction based on AMC's The Walking Dead in Universal City, California on May 5. Photo: IC
Universal Studios said Wednesday it would mark Independence Day by freeing its horde of undead onto an unsuspecting Hollywood public, offering a first look at its new Walking Dead attraction.
It is the latest tie-in in a burgeoning entertainment industry offshoot that has seen dozens of theme park attractions based on movies and TV shows spring up across the US in recent years.
Universal, in southern California , released a behind-the-scenes video showing the making of its "walkers" and confirmed a July 4 opening date for the walk-through attraction, which recreates scenes from the record-breaking AMC show.
"We're getting the chance to utilize molds that were created specifically for the show and translate them into parts of the attraction," series executive producer Greg Nicotero said.
"We're creating animatronic walkers that guests will be able to see. It's never been done before. It's one-of-a-kind, state-of-the-art and I can't wait."
The experience combines real-life actors with animatronics to recreate the lumbering monsters, including the iconic cut-in-half zombie from the pilot, dubbed "Bicycle Girl" by the show's fans.
The attraction follows the opening of "The Wizarding World of Harry Potter" in April , 15 years after the boy wizard's last big-screen adventure.
Together with the recently introduced "Despicable Me Minion Mayhem," the award-winning The Simpsons park area and "Transformers: The Ride-3D," the attraction sees Universal partnering with Hollywood for a merchandising merry-go-round to rival Disney's.
Meanwhile, Warner Bros. is opening its Los Angeles studio lot to offer fans a sneak peak at authentic props, costumes and even a prison cell set used in its hotly-anticipated summer blockbuster Suicide Squad more than two months ahead of its release.
DC Universe: The Exhibit - an homage to origins of DC Comics that features the outfits worn by Margot Robbie and Jared Leto in the movie - opens on May 24.
The attraction includes Batcave props from Ben Affleck's first outing as the Caped Crusader in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, which has made almost $870 million worldwide.
"Since 1934 , DC Comics has built a legacy of creating the world's greatest superheroes and super-villains," said Danny Kahn, head of Warner's studio tours.
"DC Universe: The Exhibit gives you the chance to explore the world of these characters from their first comic book appearance to our latest feature blockbusters."
The studio previewed the attraction for the media on Wednesday, inviting along special guest Gene Simmons, the Kiss bass player and vocalist, who is an ardent comic book fan.
"I grew up at a time when comic books were kids' stuff and looked down on ," he told reporters.
"Guess what? We win. The geeks win."
NAY PYI TAW, Dec. 15 (Xinhua) -- Thailand has surpassed host Myanmar to lead the gold medals table four days after the 27th Southeast Asia (SEA) Games'opening ceremony in Nay Pyi Taw.
Thailand has now bagged 45 golds, 41 silvers, and 40 bronzes, making a total of 126 medals overall.
Host Myanmar had led the medals table throughout since the competition started on Dec. 4 till Friday.
Thailand collected scores of gold medals from sports such as boxing and athletics while they gather most non-gold medals out of the pool.
Myanmar steps back to the second since Saturday with 38 golds, 31 silvers , and 35 bronzes to make a total of 104.
Vietnam, third in medals table, has 109 medals while the fourth Indonesia has 123.
The SEA Games comprises 33 sports that offer 460 golds, 460 silvers, and 637 bronze medals to the winners.
The Games is held from December 11 to 22 in four different places, namely Nay Pyi Taw , Yangon, Mandalay and Nge Saung beach in Pathein with the theme of "Green, Clean, and Friendship".
Over 6000 athletes and officials from 11 ASEAN countries and regions participate in the biggest biennial tournament of the region.
SHANGHAI, April 14 (Xinhua) -- Following are the nominees for Laureus sports awards to be announced here Wednesday night:
Laureus World Sportsman of the Year Award
Novak Djokovic (Serbia) Tennis - won Wimbledon for second time; replaced Rafael Nadal as world No.1
Lewis Hamilton (Britain) Mo.
"The significant international participation is a proof of the success of the fair and the importance of this initiative for Bulgaria," the country's President Rosen Plevneliev said at the opening ceremony.
He was glad to see many school buses in front of the NPC, and many children would get acquainted with interesting books from around the world in the coming days, Plevneliev said.
Vesselin Todorov, President of the Bulgarian Book Association, the event organizer , said this is the biggest fair in its 46-year history, with exhibitors placed from the ground floor to the fourth floor, and almost all the NPC occupied by books and accompanying events.
He said Romania is the official guest of the six-day event, with a huge booth and over 40 visiting writers and poets.
Miroslav Borshosh, NPC's Executive Director, said the four floors full of books and exhibitors proved that Bulgarian people still love books.
Alexandru Oprean , Romania's State Secretary of Cultural Ministry, who also attended the ceremony, said he hoped the cultural bridges between the two neighboring countries would become increasingly shorter in the future.
Guests wait in line to audition at the Universal Studios Hollywood open casting call auditions for a new attraction based on AMC's The Walking Dead in Universal City, California on May 5. Photo: IC
Universal Studios said Wednesday it would mark Independence Day by freeing its horde of undead onto an unsuspecting Hollywood public, offering a first look at its new Walking Dead attraction.
It is the latest tie-in in a burgeoning entertainment industry offshoot that has seen dozens of theme park attractions based on movies and TV shows spring up across the US in recent years.
Universal, in southern California , released a behind-the-scenes video showing the making of its "walkers" and confirmed a July 4 opening date for the walk-through attraction, which recreates scenes from the record-breaking AMC show.
"We're getting the chance to utilize molds that were created specifically for the show and translate them into parts of the attraction," series executive producer Greg Nicotero said.
"We're creating animatronic walkers that guests will be able to see. It's never been done before. It's one-of-a-kind, state-of-the-art and I can't wait."
The experience combines real-life actors with animatronics to recreate the lumbering monsters, including the iconic cut-in-half zombie from the pilot, dubbed "Bicycle Girl" by the show's fans.
The attraction follows the opening of "The Wizarding World of Harry Potter" in April , 15 years after the boy wizard's last big-screen adventure.
Together with the recently introduced "Despicable Me Minion Mayhem," the award-winning The Simpsons park area and "Transformers: The Ride-3D," the attraction sees Universal partnering with Hollywood for a merchandising merry-go-round to rival Disney's.
Meanwhile, Warner Bros. is opening its Los Angeles studio lot to offer fans a sneak peak at authentic props, costumes and even a prison cell set used in its hotly-anticipated summer blockbuster Suicide Squad more than two months ahead of its release.
DC Universe: The Exhibit - an homage to origins of DC Comics that features the outfits worn by Margot Robbie and Jared Leto in the movie - opens on May 24.
The attraction includes Batcave props from Ben Affleck's first outing as the Caped Crusader in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, which has made almost $870 million worldwide.
"Since 1934 , DC Comics has built a legacy of creating the world's greatest superheroes and super-villains," said Danny Kahn, head of Warner's studio tours.
"DC Universe: The Exhibit gives you the chance to explore the world of these characters from their first comic book appearance to our latest feature blockbusters."
The studio previewed the attraction for the media on Wednesday, inviting along special guest Gene Simmons, the Kiss bass player and vocalist, who is an ardent comic book fan.
"I grew up at a time when comic books were kids' stuff and looked down on ," he told reporters.
"Guess what? We win. The geeks win."
NAY PYI TAW, Dec. 15 (Xinhua) -- Thailand has surpassed host Myanmar to lead the gold medals table four days after the 27th Southeast Asia (SEA) Games'opening ceremony in Nay Pyi Taw.
Thailand has now bagged 45 golds, 41 silvers, and 40 bronzes, making a total of 126 medals overall.
Host Myanmar had led the medals table throughout since the competition started on Dec. 4 till Friday.
Thailand collected scores of gold medals from sports such as boxing and athletics while they gather most non-gold medals out of the pool.
Myanmar steps back to the second since Saturday with 38 golds, 31 silvers , and 35 bronzes to make a total of 104.
Vietnam, third in medals table, has 109 medals while the fourth Indonesia has 123.
The SEA Games comprises 33 sports that offer 460 golds, 460 silvers, and 637 bronze medals to the winners.
The Games is held from December 11 to 22 in four different places, namely Nay Pyi Taw , Yangon, Mandalay and Nge Saung beach in Pathein with the theme of "Green, Clean, and Friendship".
Over 6000 athletes and officials from 11 ASEAN countries and regions participate in the biggest biennial tournament of the region.
SHANGHAI, April 14 (Xinhua) -- Following are the nominees for Laureus sports awards to be announced here Wednesday night:
Laureus World Sportsman of the Year Award
Novak Djokovic (Serbia) Tennis - won Wimbledon for second time; replaced Rafael Nadal as world No.1
Lewis Hamilton (Britain) Mo.