American comedian, writer and director Buck Henry, who was behind one of the most influential films in history, has died of a heart attack. He was 89.The Dartmouth-educated Henry first emerged in the late 1950s, playing a puritanical character who was offended by so-called naked animals and wanted them to …

Emmy winner Niecy Nash, the groundbreaking cast of the hit TV series “Pose,” Grammy-winning music video director Melina Matsoukas and “Captain Marvel” actress Lashana Lynch will be honored at the 2020 Black Women in Hollywood Awards.Essence Communications, the media company dedicated to black women that hosts the annual pre-Oscars luncheon, …

British actor Jeremy Irons will head the jury at the Berlin International Film Festival next month, organizers said Thursday.Irons will be jury president at the festival’s 70th edition, running from Feb. 20 to March 1. Other members of the jury haven’t yet been named. Irons’ screen and stage career started …

Billie Eilish and Lizzo, both nominated for the top four prizes at the Grammy Awards, are slated to perform at the live show later this month.The Recording Academy announced Wednesday that couple Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton will hit the stage together at the Jan. 26, 2020 event, airing live …

Britain’s Prince Harry and his wife Meghan will step back as senior members of the royal family and spend more time in North America, the couple said in a historic statement Wednesday.”We intend to step back as ‘senior’ members of the royal family and work to become financially independent, while …

Cardi B’s announcement that she wants to seek Nigerian citizenship has set off a Twitter feud between her West African fans in friendly rivals Nigeria and Ghana.The Grammy-winning rapper visited both countries last month on her African tour.Her announcement in a tweet on Friday criticized the U.S. airstrike in Iraq …

Sudanese musicians who were banned by ousted president Omar al-Bashir’s government have returned to the country to play at  a series of New Year concerts — in a move seen as symbolic of the changes that have taken place in the country.  The Sudanese artists, some of whom were living in …

The film “Joker” has topped the nominations for the British Academy film awards announced Tuesday.                     The movie about the origins of the comic book villain received 11 BAFTA nominations including best film, best actor for Joaquin Phoenix, and best director.                     Martin Scorsese’s gangster epic “The Irishman” …

Potential jurors in Harvey Weinstein’s New York sexual assault trial are expected to fill a courtroom Tuesday as the former movie titan’s legal problems deepen with new charges  in Los Angeles.In New York, jury selection is set to start Tuesday and could take weeks as prosecutors, Weinstein’s lawyers and the …

Thousands of Orthodox Christian worshippers plunged into the icy waters of rivers and lakes across Bulgaria on Monday to retrieve crucifixes tossed by priests in Epiphany ceremonies commemorating the baptism of Jesus Christ. By tradition, the person who retrieves the wooden cross will be freed from evil spirits and will …

The 77th Golden Globes were meant to be a coronation for Netflix. Instead, a pair of big-screen epics took top honors Sunday, as Sam Mendes’ technically dazzling World War I tale “1917” won best picture, drama, and Quentin Tarantino’s radiant Los Angeles fable “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood” …

The Golden Globes are famously unpredictable, but a few sure things seem to be in store for Sunday’s awards: Streaming services will play a starring role; five-time host Ricky Gervais will snicker at his own jokes; and Brad Pitt is all but assured of taking home an award.Plenty of question …

Hollywood’s biggest party, the Golden Globes, kicks off the showbiz awards season Sunday, with streaming giant Netflix expected to be popping champagne corks through the night.Stars will don couture gowns and extravagant jewels before they hit the red carpet at the luxury Beverly Hills hotel where the calendar’s second-most important — …

American pop singer Pink says she is donating $500,000 to help fight the deadly wildfires that have devastated parts of Australia.“I am totally devastated watching what is happening in Australia right now with the horrific bushfires,” Pink tweeted Saturday to her 32.2 million Twitter followers. “I am pledging a donation …

Beth Jensen suffered a stroke when she was just eight years old, and though she survived, she was almost completely paralyzed and unable to talk as a result. Yet, Jensen has refused to let her condition stop her from living a life filled with activities, art and love. Iryna Matviichuk …

Hundreds of new restaurants mushroom in Washington every year, but the “Immigrant Food” restaurant that recently opened just a block away from the White House is unique. On top of making a delicious statement, it also makes a political one, serving food inspired by the many immigrant communities that live …

As former movie mogul Harvey Weinstein goes to trial on rape charges next week in Manhattan, lawyers will need to keep an eye out for jurors who want to use the case to make a statement about sexual abuse following the rise of the #MeToo movement, legal experts said.Once one …

Lulu Wang, Lorene Scafaria, Melina Matsoukas and Greta Gerwig led Hollywood to a record year for women in the director’s chair. In 2019, women directed more of the most popular movies than any year before. Women directed 12 of 2019’s top 100-grossing films in 2019, according to a study released Thursday …

 Former US secretary of state and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton was appointed Thursday as the new chancellor of Queen’s University Belfast.Clinton will serve for five years in the largely ceremonial role, the Northern Irish institution announced.”It is a great privilege to become the chancellor of Queen’s University, a place I …

White evangelical Protestants stand noticeably apart from other religious people on how the government should act on two of the most politically divisive issues at play in the 2020 presidential election, according to a new poll of Americans from various faith backgrounds.Asked about significant restrictions on abortion — making it …

Don Larsen, the journeyman pitcher who reached the heights of baseball glory when he threw a perfect game in 1956 with the New York Yankees for the only no-hitter in World Series history, died Wednesday night. He was 90.Larsen’s agent, Andrew Levy, said the former pitcher died of esophageal cancer …

Former commissioner of the National Basketball Association David Stern, who oversaw the NBA turning from a struggling U.S. league into a global powerhouse, died in New York Wednesday. He was 77.The NBA said Stern had been seriously ill since emergency surgery for a brain hemorrhage in early December.Stern joined the …

The world rang in a new year and decade Wednesday with fireworks, music and all-night parties.The celebrations included the usual massive gathering in New York’s Times Square where people counted down the remaining seconds of 2019 and cheered as 2020 officially arrived.People celebrate as they watch the traditional New Year’s …

The more you give, the richer you become that’s the philosophical idea behine the gift economy.  It’s an idea that’s catching on. At the famous Burning Man festival in Nevada for instance money has no worth. In his book “The Gift”, Lewis Hyde described this model in detail. Misha Gutkin …

This New Year’s Eve, an estimated 1 million people will pack the streets of New York City’s Times Square to watch the famous ball drop. It’s a tradition that dates back to 1907, as visitors from around the world gather to count down the final seconds to the New Year. …