The weight of legacy hangs heavily over Creed II. Not just for most of the characters, who must come to grips with their own family histories, but also for the filmmakers, tasked with making a sequel to a successful spin-off of a beloved franchise. It would put any film on …
your ad here‘A Private War’ Underscores Risks Journalists Take
Oscar nominee Matthew Heineman has often put his life on the line while filming award-winning documentaries such as Cartel Land, chronicling wars of Mexican drug cartels, and throwing a light on the atrocities of the Islamic State group in City of Ghosts. Now, Heineman is releasing his first feature film, A Private War, …
your ad here‘Private War’ Examines War Correspondent’s Physical, Psychological Scars
Oscar nominee Matthew Heineman’s film “A Private War,” about Sunday Times war correspondent Marie Colvin, brings attention to the danger journalists face reporting on the plight of war victims. VOA’s Penelope Poulou describes how and why “A Private War” was a labor of love, a docudrama delving into Colvin’s psyche. …
your ad hereFederal Reserve Policymakers See Rate Hikes Ahead, Note Worries
Federal Reserve policymakers on Friday signaled further interest rate increases ahead, but raised relatively muted concerns over a potential global slowdown that has markets betting heavily that the Fed’s rate hike cycle will soon peter out. The widening chasm between market expectations and the rate path the Fed laid out …
your ad hereReport: Russia Has Access to UK Visa Processing
Investigative group Bellingcat and Russian website The Insider are suggesting that Russian intelligence has infiltrated the computer infrastructure of a company that processes British visa applications. The investigation, published Friday, aims to show how two suspected Russian military intelligence agents, who have been charged with poisoning a former Russian spy …
your ad hereTake A Weight Off: ‘Grand K’ Kilo Being Retired
In a historic vote, nations on Friday unanimously approved a groundbreaking overhaul to the international system of measurements that underpins global trade and other vital human endeavors, uniting behind new scientific definitions for the kilogram and other units in a way that they have failed to do on so many …
your ad hereSouth Africa Cannabis Ruling Leads to Pot-Themed Products
Now that South Africa’s highest court has relaxed the nation’s laws on marijuana, local entrepreneurs are trying to cash in on the popular herb. Among the latest entries to the market: several highly popular cannabis-laced alcohol products, which deliver the unique taste, though without the signature high. Marijuana activists say …
your ad hereAmazon’s ‘National Landing’ Leads to Confusion and Jokes
Place names in Arlington County have never been a simple matter. A major fight broke out when National Airport was named for Ronald Reagan in 1998. A fight continues over whether to name a park next to the airport for Nancy Reagan. And in the 1920s, the Postal Service refused …
your ad hereTrump to Award Presidential Medal of Freedom to Donor’s Wife
Miriam Adelson is a doctor, philanthropist and humanitarian, but is perhaps best known as the wife of Sheldon Adelson, a Las Vegas casino magnate considered one of the nation’s most powerful Republican donors. She gets to add a new title Friday when President Donald Trump honors her with the Presidential …
your ad hereSomalia Struggles to Treat PTSD from War, Poverty
Somalia’s 30 years of chronic conflict have left an estimated 1 in 3 people affected by mental health issues, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, there are only three licensed psychiatrists in the entire country. Mohamed Sheikh Nor reports from Mogadishu on Somalia’s huge mental health challenges. …
your ad hereEbola Outbreak in DRC Could Stretch Well into Next Year
The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which has already killed hundreds of people, could continue for several months. That’s the latest warning from a senior World Health Organization official. VOA Correspondent Mariama Diallo reports. …
your ad hereExperts: Without Proof of Ownership, Land Laws Worthless
Land laws mean nothing unless communities can prove their ownership, researchers said Thursday, calling for better tools to map the land and stave off conflict over property. From South Africa to the Amazon rainforest, battles over land and who owns it are unleashing unprecedented conflict and labyrinthine legal cases as …
your ad here‘Perfect Time,’ Ethical Businesses Say, to Drive Social Change
Ethically driven businesses are becoming increasingly popular and profitable but they can face threats for shaking up the existing order, entrepreneurs said on Social Enterprise Day. When Meghan Markle wore a pair of “slave-free” jeans on a royal tour of Australia last month, she sparked a sales stampede and shone …
your ad here45 Years After Her Nomination, Cicely Tyson Gets Her Oscar
Cicely Tyson received her first and only Oscar nomination in 1972. It was for best actress for her work in “Sounder,” which she thinks of as her first major role. She wasn’t called to the stage that year — Liza Minnelli was for “Cabaret” — but now 45 years later, …
your ad hereChina Woos Pacific Islands With Loans, Showcase Projects
As world leaders land in Papua New Guinea for a Pacific Rim summit, the welcome mat is especially big for China’s president. A huge sign in the capital, Port Moresby, welcomes Xi Jinping, picturing him gazing beneficently at Papua New Guinea’s leader, and his hotel is decked out with red …
your ad hereOcean Shock: Big Aquaculture Bulldozes Borneo
This is part of “Ocean Shock,” a Reuters series exploring climate change’s impact on sea creatures and the people who depend on them. PURU NI TIMBUL, MALAYSIA — Swinging his machete with an economy of movement that only the jungle can teach, Matakin Bondien lopped a stray branch from the path of …
your ad hereVeterans Find Meditation Helps Ease Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Meditation worked as well as traditional therapy for military veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder in a small experiment sponsored by the Department of Defense. One method preferred by the Department of Veterans Affairs is exposure therapy, but it doesn’t work for everyone and many can’t handle what it requires: purposely …
your ad hereTech Firm Pays Refugees to Train AI Algorithms
Companies could help refugees rebuild their lives by paying them to boost artificial intelligence (AI) using their phones and giving them digital skills, a tech nonprofit said Thursday. REFUNITE has developed an app, LevelApp, which is being piloted in Uganda to allow people who have been uprooted by conflict to …
your ad hereFacebook CEO Details Company Battle with Hate Speech, Violent Content
Facebook says it is getting better at proactively removing hate speech and changing the incentives that result in the most sensational and provocative content becoming the most popular on the site. The company has done so, it says, by ramping up its operations so that computers can review and make …
your ad hereReport: 620 Million Children Lack Proper School Toilets
A lack of proper school toilets threatens the health, education and safety of at least 620 million children around the world, the charity WaterAid said in a new study published Friday. Children at 1 in 3 schools lack access to proper toilets, putting them at risk of diarrhea and other …
your ad hereHonorary Oscar Recipient Marvin Levy Can’t Believe His Luck
When Marvin Levy says he never expected to get an Oscar, it’s not false modesty. It just wasn’t a possibility. Levy is one of the most respected publicists in Hollywood, with more than a half century of experience at companies like MGM, Columbia Pictures, DreamWorks and Amblin. His four-decade …
your ad hereOxford’s Word of the Year: Toxic
It’s official: 2018 is toxic. Oxford Dictionaries has chosen “toxic” as its international word of the year. Oxford University Press monitors changes in the English language and each year selects a word that catches the annual mood. Oxford’s lexicographers said it’s “the sheer scope of its applications that has made …
your ad hereJ Balvin Has Everything to Gain at This Year’s Latin Grammys
J Balvin has everything to gain at this year’s Latin Grammy Awards. The Colombian reggaeton star leads all nominees ahead of Thursday’s ceremony with eight nods, including two for record of the year, one for album of the year and another for his hit version of “Mi gente” with …
your ad hereClimate Change, Steel, Migration Bedevil G20 Communique
Climate change, steel and migration have emerged as sticking points in the final communique that world leaders will issue at the end of the Group of 20 summit in Argentina later this month, an Argentine government official said on Thursday. Those issues were the “most complicated” areas of discussion, said …
your ad here‘Be Visible and Loud’ to Drive #MeToo Forward, Women Say
Women have to be “visible and loud” in their fight for equality to build on the gains of the #MeToo movement, activists said as they push for legal reform, an end to violence and equal pay. From India’s female vigilantes who beat men accused of rape, to demonstrators in Argentina …
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