Only two of the 20 actors and actresses nominated for an Oscar this year are minorities, and no women were nominated in the Best Director category. Upon announcing the Oscar nominations, actress Issa Rae made a point of that by remarking, “Congratulations to those men.” But why is there lack …

One of the last survivors of Hollywood’s golden age, movie legend Kirk Douglas, has died.His son, actor Michael Douglas, announced his father’s death Wednesday afternoon in Los Angeles. He was 103 years old.The son of poor Russian Jewish immigrants, Douglas appeared in 90 films over a 60-year career.He worked a …

In Leesburg, Virginia, near Washington DC, it’s well above freezing but that has not stopped scores of artists and carvers who come each year during the winter to turn ice into magic.  Maxim Moskalkov visited the city’s annual ice festival and talked to the sculptors about their evanescent masterpieces …

It’s Oscar week in Los Angeles, and until the awards are handed out on Sunday the city will be ground zero for parties. Many of these events and traditions go back decades – to the time when Hollywood actors weren’t multi-millionaires and the Award Ceremony was invented. Angelina Bagdasaryan has …

Rihanna will receive the President’s Award during the 51st NAACP Image Awards this month.The NAACP (The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, a U.S. civil rights organization) announced Tuesday that it had selected the 31-year-old pop star and fashion icon for her “groundbreaking career as an artist and …

The Kansas City Chiefs are celebrating their Super Bowl win with a parade.      “The Chiefs Kingdom Champions Parade” is set for 11:30 a.m. Wednesday. Officials announced the celebration Sunday night, shortly after the Chiefs defeated San Francisco 31-20. The festivities will include a victory rally at Union Station …

Conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh said he’s been diagnosed with advanced lung cancer.Addressing listeners on his program Monday, Limbaugh said he will take some days off for further medical tests and to determine treatment.Limbaugh called himself the “mayor of Realville” in announcing his illness. He’d been experiencing shortness of breath …

In the real world, political primaries are looming, impeachment is ongoing and heavy news never seems to stop. But during commercial breaks in the Super Bowl, advertisers did their best to serve up an antidote heavily spiked with fun.True, political ads did invade the game, with President Trump and Michael …

Uncomfortable and under duress for much of the game, Patrick Mahomes suddenly recaptured his mojo – and lifted Andy Reid and the Chiefs to a Super Bowl victory – the team’s first NFL championship in a half-century.All it took was falling behind by double digits in the postseason again. Then …

Sunday is a once-in-a-century day.The date is a palindrome, meaning it is the same read backwards or forward.It is February 2, or 02/02/2020, and the phenomenon is the same no matter whether regional custom calls for listing the day or the month first.As it happens, it is also a palindrome …

Punxsutawney Phil, the American groundhog famous for predicting the end of winter in the United States, did not see his shadow Sunday morning, indicating that spring will come early this year.”Hear ye, hear ye!” a member of Phil’s “inner circle” yelled to cheering crowds after presenting the furry rodent.”There is …

“Parasite” has continued its march through Hollywood’s awards season by winning the best original screenplay honor at Saturday’s Writers Guild Awards.The Nazi satire “Jojo Rabbit” took home the best adapted screenplay honor.The Writers Guild Awards were roughly a week before the Academy Awards, where both films will compete in the best picture …

This year’s Super Bowl won’t be a politics-free zone, as both President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg will air campaign ads during the game.But most other advertisers will offer escape  from impeachment and the upcoming presidential election by stuffing multiple celebrities in their ads, appropriating iconic songs, …

American fast-food icon McDonald’s Friday marked 30 years since it first opened its doors in Moscow, an occasion with deep resonance here since the transition from the communist Soviet Union.Yet, marring the celebration were city authorities’ concerns over an outbreak of the coronavirus in neighboring China.    The restaurant had …

America’s Sofia Kenin stunned two-time Major champion Garbine Muguruza to win the Australian Open on Saturday, completing a surprise run where she has come from nowhere to win her first Grand Slam title.Despite making her debut in a Major final Kenin, 21, showed all her trademark aggression as she fought …

Mary Higgins Clark, the tireless and long-reigning “Queen of Suspense” whose tales of women beating the odds made her one of the world’s most popular writers, died Friday at age 92.Her publisher, Simon & Schuster, announced that she died of natural causes in Naples, Florida.“Nobody ever bonded more completely with …

Kelly Carnes is anything but ordinary. A public relations executive and entrepreneur, she has made parties and carnivals her everyday reality and lives the life that feels natural to her. But there’s one element in her life that puzzles many, but not her. Masha Morton met with the DC carnival …

Almost three years ago, Missy Elliott sent a tweet to a then under-the-radar artist whose music she admired and told her that “she was going to blow up.”      Fast forward to this week and H.E.R. has been nominated for 10 Grammys, won two and is now starring with …

DJ Khaled will be celebrating his first-ever Grammy win in the city where the former radio host built his career: Miami.The hitmaker will perform at multiple pre-Super Bowl events this week, which will be jam-packed with other A-list celebrities, including Diddy, Shaquille O’Neal, Lady Gaga, Lizzo, Post Malone, Kevin Hart, …

Florida and federal law enforcement agencies preparing for the Super Bowl this Sunday at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens say they are ready for anything, including a detonated bomb or massive food poisoning, but haven’t identified any threats.      Events for the 54th Super Bowl, between the Kansas …

Miami, Florida will host the 54th Super Bowl this Sunday. The Super Bowl is the championship American football  game for the top two teams in the sport’s two separate divisions. Thousands of fans, hotels and restaurants are getting ready for an entire weekend of celebrations. And there’s high security to …

Archaeologists on Thursday unveiled 16 ancient Egyptian tombs filled with sarcophagi and other artifacts from a vast burial ground.Egypt’s Antiquities Ministry announced the discoveries in the village of Tuna al-Gabal, near the Nile Valley city of Minya in central Egypt. The site boasts an array of previously excavated finds, including …

Coffee is one of the most popular hot beverages in the world and is drunk almost daily by about a third of the world’s population. At a coffee shop in Jakarta, Indonesia, the owners want to promote communication, understanding and tolerance by employing people who can’t hear. VOA’s Rendy Wicaksana …

The helicopter carrying Kobe Bryant didn’t have a long-recommended warning system to alert the pilot he was too close to the ground, but it is not clear whether it would have averted the foggy-weather crash, investigators and other experts say.At issue is what’s known as a Terrain Awareness and Warning …

The death of American basketball star Kobe Bryant has caused worldwide mourning, and Africa is no exception. But along with the grief, there are signs of new enthusiasm for a sport that has, until now, not taken hold in much of the continent.Promoters have been trying to grow basketball’s presence …