Entertainment Roundup: Steppe queen movie makes Kazakhs wonder; Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande lead MTV VMA nominations

Following is a summary of current entertainment news briefs.

Lebanese church demands cancellation of Mashrou' Leila show

Lebanese church leaders have demanded the cancellation of a concert by Lebanese band Mashrou' Leila on the grounds its songs are blasphemous, leading the group to say it is the target of a campaign based on fabrications to crush freedom of expression. Though Mashrou' Leila has played all over Lebanon, plans for its Aug. 9 performance at this year's Byblos International Festival have been met by a hostile social media campaign.

Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande lead MTV VMA nominations

Taylor Swift and Ariana Grande each received 10 nominations for the MTV Video Music Awards (VMA) on Tuesday, leading the race in the youth-orientated awards show, which this year includes two new categories, best K-pop and video for good. Singer-songwriter Billie Eilish scored nine nominations, including video of the year, best pop, best new artist and artist of the year, a category the 17-year-old will compete for against Grande, rapper Cardi B, pop rocker siblings Jonas Brothers as well as singers Halsey and Shawn Mendes.

Will life imitate art? Steppe queen movie makes Kazakhs wonder

An aging central Asian leader grooms his daughter to succeed him, and she then overcomes suspicion from her patriarchal society to unite her people. It could describe the future trajectory of Dariga Nazarbayeva, the 56-year-old daughter of Kazakhstan's former leader Nursultan Nazarbayev, who many people believe will eventually become president of the oil-producing nation.

'Avatar' and 'Avengers' trade compliments as 'Endgame' becomes box-office champ

Director James Cameron on Monday handed over the baton for the biggest box-office movie of all time to the makers of "Avengers: Endgame" after it ended the 10-year record of "Avatar." The Marvel Studios superhero movie "Avengers: Endgame" at the weekend overtook the $2.789 billion record set by Cameron's 2009 sci-fi film "Avatar" to bring its global total to $2.790 billion, according to box-office data.

Also Read: Gun megastore plan in New Zealand's Christchurch sparks backlash -media

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)