A group of journalists will usher in the New Year Monday in New York City’s Times Square as the time-honored tradition of the annual ball drop recognizes journalism and free speech. Leading American reporters and editors will be on stage just before midnight to push the button that begins the …

Activists urging more states to ban gay conversion therapy for minors are expecting major gains in 2019, thanks to midterm election results and the buzz generated by two well-reviewed films.    Fourteen states and the District of Columbia have already enacted laws prohibiting licensed therapists from trying to change a …

Norman Gimbel, an Oscar- and Grammy-winning lyricist, has died at the age of 91. The prolific songwriter is perhaps best known for writing the lyrics of “Killing Me Softly With His Song” and the English lyrics for “The Girl From Ipanema.” Gimbel, along with his collaborator Charles Fox, won the …

British divers who rescued young soccer players trapped in a flooded cave in Thailand are among those being recognized in Britain’s New Year’s Honors List, along with 1960s model Twiggy and Monty Python star Michael Palin. Twiggy, a model who shot to stardom during the Beatles era, will become a …

Renowned Israeli writer Amos Oz, a passionate peace advocate whose stirring memoir A Tale of Love and Darkness became a worldwide bestseller, died Friday at age 79, his daughter said. Fania Oz-Salzberger said on Twitter that her father had died and offered thanks to “those who loved him.” “My beloved …

Fifty years after the Woodstock music festival became one of the watersheds of hippie counterculture, an anniversary event will take place in August 2019 on the same field north of New York City. The Bethel Woods Center for the Arts announced a three-day festival of “music, culture and community” that …

Tourists in Philadelphia for the holidays will be able to see the Liberty Bell this weekend despite a partial federal government shutdown that closed many national parks throughout the country. Most of the buildings in the Independence National Historic Park including Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell Center have been …

The head of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency has asked for President Vladimir Putin’s help in getting Russian officials to hand over key doping data to World Anti-Doping Agency inspectors. WADA reinstated the suspended RUSADA in September on the condition Russian authorities hand over lab data, which could help confirm a …

Preparations for New Year’s Eve in Times Square are taking shape, and some of those shapes are 192 new crystal triangles on the famous ball. The new Waterford crystal triangles will join about 2,500 others Thursday on the big, sparkling sphere. Some new crystals are swapped in every year. This …

She showed up in Paris wearing a black catsuit, a reminder that nobody can command the Grand Slam stage quite like Serena Williams. She reached the finals at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, proving again how well she can play no matter how little she practices. Williams didn’t win those …

Two dozen large-screen TVs showing football and other sports line the walls. There’s beer on tap, bar top seating and leather chairs. Chicken wings are on the menu. And at this American Indian casino in the heart of college-football mad Mississippi, you can legally bet on the games. The sports …

The Museum of Black Civilizations in Senegal opened this month amid a global conversation about the ownership and legacy of African art. The West African nation’s culture minister isn’t shy: He wants the thousands of pieces of cherished heritage taken from the continent over the centuries to come home. “It’s …

The 81-year-old author is often called a dean of Chicano literature. The illustrator is a younger muralist steeped in the visual traditions of Mexican-American pop culture and low-rider cars.    Together, novelist Rudolfo Anaya and painter Moises Salcedo — who goes by El Moises — have created a bilingual children’s …

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II wove personal reflections into her annual Christmas message, offering the customary wishes for peace and saying she hoped she had attained a measure of wisdom during her 92 years. “Some cultures believe a long life brings wisdom,” Elizabeth said in a pre-recorded message broadcast Tuesday. “I’d …

 A stray bullet crushed Iraly Yanez’s aspirations of becoming a professional dancer eight years ago as it ruptured two of her vertebrae and left her paraplegic. But now the young Venezuelan dancer is pursuing her lifelong passion in a wheelchair — and hoping to put her career back on track …

U.S. actor Kevin Spacey is facing a felony charge for allegedly sexually assaulting the teenage at a Nantucket, Massachusetts, restaurant more than two years ago. The Oscar-winning actor is set to be arraigned on a charge of indecent assault and battery on January 7. In November last year, Boston-based news …

As Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg recovers from surgery on Friday for early stage lung cancer, two new films are paying tribute to her life and many accomplishments. VOA’s Penelope Poulou reports how the senior justice of Court’s liberal wing is being portrayed on film. …

As Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg recovers from surgery on Friday for early stage lung cancer, two new films are paying tribute to her life and many accomplishments. VOA’s Penelope Poulou reports how the senior justice of Court’s liberal wing is being portrayed on film. …

You don’t often get a second chance to make a first impression, unless, of course, you’re one of the world’s most popular dinosaurs. “It’s a different profile, a much more impressive profile in many ways, a pretty scary large animal, as opposed to a lighter, swifter animal,” says the Field …

A Venetian cloth dyer’s son, Tintoretto spent his entire career in Venice, becoming widely considered the last great painter of the Renaissance. The lagoon city’s churches and palazzi essentially serve as a permanent retrospective of this native son’s formidable talents in using dramatic color, bold brushstrokes and daringly innovative perspective …

During the Christmas season, nights are bright across the United States, as families, businesses and churches put up outdoor light decorations — a simple string of white lights along a roof edge, to elaborate displays with moving figures and music. VOA’s Deborah Block shows us a few of the beautiful …

A father-son business in Damascus, Maryland, is achieving success by restoring old, rusty cars into magnificent-looking vehicles. This is thanks to the work and inspiration of Bobby and Andy Cohen, who are featured in a multiseason television show “Junkyard Empire.” Maxim Moskalkov filed this report for VOA. …

Scientists have discovered a colorful “underwater garden” at depths of up to 2 kilometers during a recent research voyage south of Tasmania in Australia. The researchers used special cameras to probe 45 undersea mountains, finding more than 100 unnamed species of corals, lobsters and mollusks. The expedition also discovered bioluminescent …

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian in Washington recently hosted a two-day art market offering visitors a chance to purchase artworks by some of the finest Native American artists from across the hemisphere. The hand-crafted items in traditional and contemporary styles included silver and semiprecious jewelry, ceramics, fine …

A combination of ice, snow, lights and exciting acrobatics are what characterize “Crystal,” Cirque du Soleil’s new show, which opened in Washington recently. Iacopo Luzi went behind the scenes of this unique display of acrobatics to learn the troupe’s secrets for putting on a show. …