In Uganda, performance horse-riding, or equestrian sports, are known as a pastime for the rich. But in recent years, less well-off Ugandans have started to embrace equestrian sports with the hopes of competing internationally. Halima Athumani reports from Wakiso, Uganda. …

Stirring a giant vat in a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Palestinian Christian Maryam Salem prepares a special festive dish — not for Christmas, but the St Barbara’s Day festival.It is celebrated every December 17 in Aboud, which residents believe is the last resting place of Saint Barbara, a …

Members of the Japan soccer team that won the Women’s World Cup in 2011 will be the first to carry the torch for the Tokyo Olympics when the relay opens its Japanese leg on March 26, 2020.The relay is to begin in J-Village in Fukushima prefecture, located about 250 kilometers …

The Hallmark Channel, reversing what it called a “wrong decision,” said Sunday it will reinstate commercials featuring same-sex couples that it had pulled following a complaint from a conservative group.The earlier decision by Crown Media, Hallmark’s parent company, to pull several ads for the wedding planning site Zola featuring two …

The spirit of Christmas is featured again at the U.S. Botanic Garden in Washington, DC.  This year’s annual holiday event showcases displays highlighting the beauty of America’s public gardens.  They include recreations of garden conservatories, fountains and other sculptures made from plant-based materials.  VOA’s Deborah Block takes us on a …

On Dec. 1, a band of assailants opened fire on worshippers at a small-town Protestant church in Burkina Faso, an impoverished West African country where the Christian minority is increasingly a target of attacks. The victims included the pastor and several teenage boys; regional authorities attributed the attack to “unidentified …

The promise of reparations to atone for historical ties to slavery has opened new territory in a reckoning at U.S. colleges, which until now have responded with monuments, building name changes and public apologies.Georgetown University and two theological seminaries have announced funding commitments to benefit descendants of the enslaved people …

Ninety-eight percent of The Weinstein Co.’s creditors are joining a tentative settlement that plaintiffs say includes $25 million for over two dozen actresses and former employees who claim Harvey Weinstein sexually harassed them, a lawyer said Thursday. The attorney, Karen Bitar, provided the estimate to U.S. District Judge Paul A. Engelmayer as she …

Environmentalists and climate change activists worldwide are hailing Time magazine’s decision to make Greta Thunberg its 2019 Person of the Year. The teenage activist has attracted the world’s attention with her eloquent calls on political and industrial leaders to make courageous decisions on climate change. Her actions have inspired young …

New York rapper A$AP Rocky was back in Sweden on Wednesday for a concert, four months after receiving a suspended sentence over a Stockholm street fight.The gig alongside Swedish rap artists Jireel, Z.E and Dree Low is set for Stockholm’s Ericsson Globe, a golf ball-shaped arena that is the world’s …

Formula 1 car racing will debut next year in Vietnam as the fast-growing host country tries to attract high-end tourism and its own moneyed citizens take an ever keener interest in sports.A racing circuit is due for completion next month in the capital Hanoi, Formula 1 says on its website. …

A child prodigy from Belgium will enroll in a doctoral program in a U.S. university after his parents pulled him out of his Dutch college.Laurent Simons, 9, will attend an unnamed U.S. college and study for a Ph.D. in electrical engineering, his parents told CNN Tuesday.Simons was studying at the …

After a bomb exploded in a downtown Atlanta park midway through the 1996 Olympics, a security guard initially cast as a hero was recast as a villain virtually overnight. More than 20 years later, a movie to be released later this week, “Richard Jewell,” explores the roles played by law …

A Pennsylvania appeals court rejected Bill Cosby’s bid to overturn his sexual assault conviction Tuesday over issues including the trial judge’s decision to let five other accusers testify.The Superior Court ruling was being closely watched because Cosby was the first celebrity tried and convicted in the (hash)MeToo era. The same …

The U.N. General Assembly unanimously approved a resolution Monday urging all nations to observe a truce during the 2020 Summer Olympics in Japan, saying sports can play a role in promoting peace and tolerance and preventing and countering terrorism and violent extremism.Diplomats burst into applause as the assembly president announced …

Hungary’s government submitted plans to parliament on Monday to tighten its control over theaters, triggering protests from actors and audiences who feel that artistic freedom is under threat.On a cold wet day, about 1,000 to 2,000 people demonstrated against the legislation in downtown Budapest, with banners saying “Pigs, hands off …

“Marriage Story,” Netflix’s heart-wrenching divorce saga, topped the Golden Globe nominations Monday with six nods including best drama, kicking off the race for the Oscars.”The Irishman,” Martin Scorsese’s three-and-a-half-hour gangster epic, and “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” Quentin Tarantino’s nostalgic love letter to 1960s Tinseltown, were hot on its …

South Africa’s Zozibini Tunzi was crowned Miss Universe 2019, giving the country its second title in in three years in a pageant that also saw strong showings from contestants from Puerto Rico and Mexico.                     Tunzi, a 26-year-old gender violence activist, said she was forced to abandon her studies …

“Marriage Story,” Netflix’s heart-wrenching divorce saga, topped the Golden Globe nominations Monday with six nods including best drama, kicking off the race for the Oscars.”The Irishman,” Martin Scorsese’s three-and-a-half-hour gangster epic, and “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” Quentin Tarantino’s nostalgic love letter to 1960s Tinseltown, were hot on its …

Renee Zellweger, Brad Pitt and Eddie Murphy are locks. But whether “Cats” has it in the bag, too, we won’t know until the 77th annual Golden Globes are announced Monday morning.The Hollywood Foreign Press Association will unveil their nominations in Los Angeles beginning at 8:04 a.m. EST. They will be …

You didn’t know his name, but you certainly knew his voice and alter ego.Caroll Spinney, the puppeteer who played Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch for nearly 50 years on TV’s Sesame Street, died Sunday at his home in Connecticut. He was 85.The Sesame Workshop, which produces the show, says …

Actress Sally Field, singer Linda Ronstadt and the disco-funk band Earth Wind and Fire awaited their turn in the spotlight Sunday night as part of the latest group of recipients of the Kennedy Center Honors for lifetime achievements in the arts.Also in this year’s class are conductor Michael Tilson Thomas …

3D-printed cocktails, a traffic jam sculpture made of hundreds of tons of sand and more celebrity sightings than a Kardashian Christmas party were all part of over-the-top festivities during the week of Art Basel Miami.Art collector Wayne Boich hosted a lavish dinner at his home Friday night that included Dan …

Will Smith still feels “emotional” about homelessness years after playing a destitute man in one of his most acclaimed film roles, the Hollywood star has told charity campaigners braving a fierce New York winter night to sleep rough.Hundreds of people had gathered in Times Square on Saturday, rugged up and …

Berlin, Paris and London are common destinations for African artists seeking to establish their careers and build name recognition. But as they focus their attention on the West, they risk being forgotten at home. Such was the inspiration behind a traveling exhibition making its way across Africa.An oil on canvas …