Kansala, Guinea-Bissau — For centuries, the history of the West African kingdom of Kaabu has been told mainly by word of mouth. Kaabu existed from the mid-1500s to the 1800s. At its peak, it encompassed Guinea-Bissau and reached into what are now Senegal and Gambia. Sometimes Kaabu’s story passed from father to son. Often it was […]
The state of Texas has the third-largest Asian American population in the U.S. Chinese Americans in the Lone Star State have roots that trace back for generations, just like those of their counterparts on the nation’s East and West coasts. While the history of these Texans might not be as well known, their stories are […]
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis marks 12 years as head of the Catholic Church on Thursday, seemingly out of danger after a month in hospital but with his health casting a shadow over his future. The 88-year-old was, for a time, critically ill as he battled pneumonia in both lungs at Rome’s Gemelli hospital, where he […]
ROME — Pope Francis’ recovery from double pneumonia continued Wednesday as a chest X-ray confirmed improvement, two days after doctors declared he is no longer in imminent danger of death. The latest medical bulletin said the pope’s condition remained stable but indicated a complex picture considering his overall fragility. The Vatican said Francis, 88, again followed […]
The American South has long been associated with white-columned mansions, rustic farmhouses, and aging structures steeped in history. But an exhibition at the National Building Museum in Washington is showcasing the vibrant, modern and forward-thinking architecture emerging from the region today. Maxim Adams has the story. Video editor: Sergii Dogotar, Anna Rice details ⇒ BusinessMediaguide.Com […]
The Roosevelt Hotel, a New York City landmark for over a century, once again faces an uncertain future. Last month, city officials announced plans to stop using it as a migrant shelter and processing center beginning this summer. Opened in 1924 to cater to passengers using the nearby Grand Central Terminal, the iconic hotel has […]
NEW YORK — A public memorial service bursting with choral music and the Berklee College of Music’s Nebulous String Quartet, with Stevie Wonder and the Rev. Al Sharpton also on the bill, celebrated the life and legacy of Grammy-winning singer and pianist Roberta Flack. Flack’s songs “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” and “Killing […]
NEW YORK — Michelle Obama and her brother, Craig Robinson, will host a new weekly podcast series starting this month featuring a special guest pulled from the world of entertainment, sports, health or business. “IMO with Michelle Obama & Craig Robinson” will address “everyday questions shaping our lives, relationships and the world around us,” according to […]
ATHENS — A far-right Greek lawmaker attacked four paintings in an exhibition at the country’s National Gallery on Monday, the gallery said, after he had described one as offensive because of its distorted depictions of Christ and the Virgin Mary. The lawmaker, named by the gallery as Nikolaos Papadopoulos, from the ultra-religious Niki party, was temporarily […]
Artificial intelligence companies train their AI models using the works of writers, artists and creatives who typically aren’t credited or compensated. Instead of fighting AI, some tech companies are encouraging creators to take advantage of it. Tina Trinh reports. details ⇒ BusinessMediaguide.Com portal received this content from this noted web source: VOANews.Com
The documentary film Porcelain War highlights the struggle of Ukrainian artists and ordinary citizens fighting to save their country and culture in the face of Russian aggression. The movie won the 2024 Sundance Festival Grand Jury Prize for documentaries and was nominated for an Oscar this year. Elena Wolf has the story, narrated by Anna Rice. […]
Traditional Korean moon jars and modern takes on the elegant white vases are the focus of a new art exhibit in the Rocky Mountain state of Colorado. VOA Correspondent Scott Stearns has the story from Denver. details ⇒ BusinessMediaguide.Com portal received this content from this noted web source: VOANews.Com
KARACHI, PAKISTAN — Two Pakistani women sit together on a couch, rehearsing their lines while a director scrutinizes them. Waiting off camera for his scene is the male lead, an actor blessed with Bachelor hair and fine bone structure. Also out of sight: the Islamabad homeowners, who are holed up in a separate room and whose […]
ROME — Pope Francis continued his recovery from double pneumonia Sunday after doctors reported some positive news: After more than three weeks in the hospital, the 88-year-old pope is responding well to treatment and has shown a “gradual, slight improvement” in recent days. In the early Sunday update, the Vatican said Francis was resting after a […]
ASHBOURNE, ENGLAND — This ancient form of football has a rule forbidding players from murdering each other. Every year, thousands of people descend on a small town in the English countryside to watch a two-day game of mass street football that, to the casual observer, could easily be mistaken for a riot. This is Royal Shrovetide […]
WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday he was appointing Fox News host Laura Ingraham and Fox Business anchor Maria Bartiromo to the board of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. In February, weeks after taking office, Trump fired the center’s president, replaced the board of trustees and named himself chairman […]
SRINAGAR, INDIA — Viral social media posts threw cat lovers in Indian-controlled Kashmir into a tizzy. Panic spread and local veterinarians saw a surge in pet owners coming in with their cats — all because of posts that went viral on social media. It began with a warning in January from veterinarians in the disputed Himalayan […]
SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO — Oscar-winning actor Gene Hackman was in an advanced state of Alzheimer’s and died of heart disease and other factors likely days after his wife, Betsy Arakawa, died of a rare virus spread by mice, according to autopsy results released Friday in New Mexico. Hackman, 95, Arakawa, 64, and one of their […]
JOHANNESBURG — A new play about anti-apartheid icon Winnie Madikizela-Mandela seeks to highlight the struggles of Black women in South Africa who had to wait years for their husbands’ return from exile, prison or faraway work during decades of white minority rule. The play about the late former wife of Nelson Mandela, South Africa’s first Black […]
JERUSALEM — In the first Friday prayers of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, about 90,000 Palestinians prayed at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem’s Old City under tight security by Israeli forces. Thousands made their way from the West Bank into Jerusalem after Israel allowed men over 55 and women over 50 to enter from […]
Every Sunday, the voices of a Ukrainian musical ensemble fill a home in a quiet suburb of Washington. For this group, music is much more than just art: It’s an expression of solidarity. Maxim Adams has the story. Camera: Artyom Kokhan details ⇒ BusinessMediaguide.Com portal received this content from this noted web source: VOANews.Com
LOS ANGELES — The day after her house burned down, Lara Ganz sent a group message to the youth theater troupe she runs: They would not let the Los Angeles firestorm stop their upcoming show. “So many of our castmates have lost everything,” wrote Ganz, the director of youth theater at a beloved playhouse in the […]
A World Economic Forum report says it will take roughly 130 years for the world to reach full gender parity, in which women and men contribute equally to all dimensions of life. In Colorado, Svitlana Prystynska has the story of two women making inroads. (Videographer: Svitlana Prystynska, Video editor: Oksana Babenkova) details ⇒ BusinessMediaguide.Com portal […]
LOS ANGELES — LeBron James became the first player in NBA history to score 50,000 combined points in the regular season and postseason Tuesday night. James surpassed the mark with a 3-pointer early in the first quarter of the Los Angeles Lakers’ game against the New Orleans Pelicans. James got to 49,999 points Sunday night when […]
NEW YORK — The Pritzker Prize, dubbed the “Nobel” for architecture, was awarded Tuesday to China’s Liu Jiakun, who was recognized for designs that celebrate “everyday lives.” “In a global context where architecture is struggling to find adequate responses to fast evolving social and environmental challenges, Liu Jiakun has provided convincing answers that also celebrate the […]
LOS ANGELES — Adrien Brody took home his second leading man Oscar for “The Brutalist,” Mikey Madison took home the best actress statuette and “Anora” was crowned best picture on its way to five awards Sunday. Kieran Culkin won the Oscar for best supporting actor for his work on “A Real Pain” and Zoe Saldaña won […]
LOS ANGELES — “Captain America: Brave New World” kept falling but still hovered above all others at a weak weekend box office. The latest Disney-Marvel offering brought in another $15 million according to studio estimates Sunday, when most of Hollywood’s attention was on the Oscars. The Anthony Mackie-led “Captain America: Brave New World” opened strong at […]
LOS ANGELES — The Academy Awards, the highest honors in the film business, take place on Sunday with no clear frontrunner among “Anora,” “The Brutalist,” “Conclave” and other movies contending for the prestigious best picture prize. Timothee Chalamet and Demi Moore are vying for their first Oscars at the red-carpet ceremony in Hollywood. The show will […]
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis is in a stable condition as he fights double pneumonia in hospital for the 17th day, and is resting having had a peaceful night, the Vatican said on Sunday. The Vatican said on Saturday evening that the 88-year-old pontiff’s condition had stabilized, following an “isolated” breathing crisis a day earlier. “The […]
berlin — Forget SpongeBob SquarePants, Sesame Street and the sourdough starter craze — a depressed German loaf of bread named Bernd das Brot is celebrating his 25th anniversary as the reluctant star of a children’s television program that accidentally became equally popular with adults. A cult classic in Germany, Bernd das Brot (Bernd the Bread) […]
LONDON — Singer Charli XCX, whose album Brat inspired a cultural phenomenon last summer, was the big winner at the BRIT Awards, Britain’s pop music honors, in London on Saturday, picking up five prizes. Brat, which inspired fans to film themselves dancing to its tracks and whose lime green cover look was adopted by U.S. presidential […]
NEW YORK — David Johansen, the last surviving member of the glam and protopunk band the New York Dolls who later performed as his campy, pompadoured alter ego, Buster Poindexter, has died. He was 75. Johansen died Friday at his home in New York City, according to Rolling Stone, citing a family spokesperson. It was revealed […]
CAIRO — Observant Muslims the world over will soon be united in a ritual of daily fasting from dawn to sunset as the Islamic holy month of Ramadan starts. For Muslims, it’s a time of increased worship, religious reflection, charity and good deeds. Socially, it often brings families and friends together in festive gatherings around meals […]
Academy Award-winning actor Gene Hackman likely died on Feb. 17, the last day there was any activity on his pacemaker, Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza said Friday. “According to the pathologist,” Mendoza said, “that is a very good assumption that was his last day of life,” nine days before investigators found his body. The […]
Authorities are continuing their investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of Academy Award-winning actor Gene Hackman, 95, and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, 64, a classical pianist. The couple were found dead, along with one of their dogs, Wednesday in their home in the southwestern U.S. state of New Mexico. Investigators have retrieved an assortment […]
MOSCOW — Soviet chess grandmaster Boris Spassky, who was famously defeated at the height of the Cold War, has died at 88, the Russian Chess Federation announced Thursday. “The tenth world champion Boris Spassky has died at 88,” the Russian Chess Federation said in a statement on its website, calling this a “great loss for the […]
The first of two seasons of Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s masterpiece One Hundred Years of Solitude has hit the screen. Netflix is currently working on the second season of this attempt to bring the author’s sprawling masterpiece to the screen. Veronica Villafane has the story. details ⇒ BusinessMediaguide.Com portal received this content from this noted web […]
Oscar-winning American actor Gene Hackman and his wife were found dead Wednesday at their home in the southwestern U.S. state of New Mexico. Authorities said they were investigating what caused their deaths but that foul play was not suspected as a factor. Authorities said they went to the home to do a welfare check and […]
WASHINGTON — The number of Americans who identify as Christian has declined steadily for years, but that drop shows signs of slowing, according to a new survey Wednesday from the Pew Research Center. The Religious Landscape Study finds 62% of U.S. adults call themselves Christians. While a significant dip from 2007, when 78% of Americans identified […]
After devastating wildfires tore through Los Angeles, the 97th Academy Awards are going forward. Like the Grammys and other awards shows this year, the ceremony will be transformed by the fires and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has pledged to help its members and the broader film community recover. Here’s everything you […]
NEW YORK — Roberta Flack, the Grammy-winning singer and pianist whose intimate vocal and musical style on Killing Me Softly with His Song, The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face and other hits made her one of the top recording artists of the 1970s and an influential performer long after, died Monday. She was 88. […]
The 31st Screen Actors Guild Awards kicked off Sunday night with host Kristen Bell paying tribute to Los Angeles firefighters and another supporting actor win for “A Real Pain” co-star Kieran Culkin. Bell introduced the ceremony, streaming live on Netflix from the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, as an ode to both the aspirational spirit […]
Los Angeles — Former Vice President Kamala Harris stepped on the NAACP Image Awards stage Saturday night with a sobering message, calling the civil rights organization a pillar of the Black community and urging people to stay resilient and hold onto their faith during the tenure of President Donald Trump. “While we have no illusions about […]
Linda Facci has a unique and charming job. Using just a few tools and a lot of felt, she makes hyper realistic sculptures that, if they weren’t so small, it would be hard to tell them apart from the real thing. Anna Nelson met up with Facci to talk about her art. Anna Rice narrates […]
New York — “Captain America: Brave New World” soared on opening weekend but crashed down in its second go-around with audiences. “Brave New World,” the latest sign that the Marvel machine isn’t quite what it used to be, remained No. 1 at the box office in its second frame with $28.2 million in ticket sales, according […]