In the three years that Donald Trump rocketed from candidate to president, the PEN American Center has criticized him as a bully, an autocrat, a user of hate speech and an enemy of free expression. It has published studies, organized petitions and established a Press Freedom Incentive Fund. Now the …

Egyptian officials say EgyptAir has removed the latest edition of its in-flight magazine over a contentious article it published, purportedly based on an interview with American actress Drew Barrymore. They say the carrier had agreed with its publisher, Al-Ahram advertising agency, to stop printing more copies of the October issue …

It’s the 50th anniversary of the iconic moment when two African American Olympic athletes raised their fists in defiance to bring attention to racial oppression in the U-S-. It happened at their medal ceremony at the 1968 summer Olympics. VOA Correspondent Mariama Diallo examines the significance of the moment in …

Blind Paralympic cyclist Shawn Cheshire recently faced her biggest challenge — a rim-to-rim hike through the Grand Canyon. She and her fellow hikers spoke with VOA’s Mike O’Sullivan about the experience. …

Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, who visualized the indispensability of the personal computer more than 40 years ago, died Monday at 65. Allen’s family said he died in Seattle of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a form of cancer he had been battling off and on since 2009. After persuading high school friend Bill …

The Russian Orthodox Church announced Monday it would break ties with the Orthodox Patriarchate of Constantinople over the latter’s recognition of a new Ukrainian church, the latest development in a major restructuring of the world’s second-largest Christian denomination. Unlike Catholicism, which has a centralized hierarchy of authority, Orthodox Christianity has …

American rapper Kanye West and socialite wife Kim Kardashian are visiting Uganda and bringing some much-wanted, positive attention to the East African country. Deadly election-related violence in August caused many tour groups to cancel trips, dealing a blow to the economy. Uganda’s tourism body is hoping the couple’s stay will …

Pope Francis has created seven new saints in a canonization ceremony at the Vatican.  The new saints included two important Church figures who were strong voices in the favor of the poor: Pope Paul VI and Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero.  Before tens of thousands of faithful in Saint Peter’s Square, …

Halloween is a popular holiday in the United States. Hauntworld.com estimates there are more than 4,000 Halloween “fee-based” attractions in the U.S., with the overall industry generating more than $1 billion. VOA’s Jill Craig takes us on a behind-the-scenes tour of a popular haunted forest in Maryland, where people pay …

Call it Vollywood? Vietnam’s movie scene is growing quickly, with an explosion of theaters across the country, more filmmakers entering the market, and more global attention from the 2017 blockbuster “Kong,” which was set and filmed here. Search for “Vietnam movies” online and most of the results are not films …

Afghan women too many times have been seen by some as victims. Victims of domestic violence, cultural limitations, political restrictions and more. Their voices often go unheard, but not in a play produced in Washington called ‘Women of Troy: Voices From Afghanistan.’ It is a story of Afghan women’s bravery …

Summer in the United States is a time for festivals, featuring music, games and food. And in one West Virginia town that can entail very unusual food. We’re talking about fare such as spicy bear and deer stew, rich turtle soup, alligator gumbo, possum and elk. The main ingredients are …

The world was watching, July 20, 1969, as a grainy black and white TV image showed American astronaut Neil Armstrong step onto the moon’s surface and plant a U.S. flag. A new biopic follows his life, chronicling his courage, spirit of adventure and razor-sharp focus under pressure that paved the …

Bill Cosby is switching up his legal team as he looks to appeal his conviction and three- to 10-year sentence in his Pennsylvania sex assault case. A court filing Friday says the 81-year-old Cosby is replacing the suburban Philadelphia lawyer who handled his sentencing with a pair of criminal defense …

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences honored 19 student filmmakers at the 45th Student Academy Awards on Thursday night. The winners are eligible to compete for a 2018 Academy Award in the animated short, live action short and documentary short categories. They join a list of Student Academy …

Queen Elizabeth’s granddaughter Princess Eugenie married Jack Brooksbank at Windsor Castle on Friday in front of celebrities and Britain’s senior royals including Prince Harry and wife Meghan who wed at the same venue in May. Eugenie, 28, younger daughter of the queen’s third child, Prince Andrew, and his ex-wife, Sarah …

Six African women with albinism, a condition that affects the pigmentation of the skin, hair and eyes, set out to climb Tanzania’s Mount Kilimanjaro earlier this month in a bid to raise the visibility of people living with the condition. The climbers have all suffered abuse and discrimination, and in …

President Donald Trump welcomed musicians Kid Rock and country star John Rich to the White House on Thursday as he signed legislation overhauling the way music is licensed and songwriters compensated.   Trump signed the Orrin B. Hatch Music Modernization Act on Thursday. The bill won wide bipartisan support in …

A crowdfunding appeal launched in response to the #MeToo movement has paid out more than a million pounds ($1.32 million) to British charities fighting sexual harassment and abuse. Organizers at the Justice and Equality Fund called for more donations as they announced the payouts, a year after the #MeToo campaign …

A New York judge on Thursday dismissed one of the six criminal charges against movie producer Harvey Weinstein after prosecutors said they could not oppose the dismissal in light of information they had learned while investigating the case. The dismissed charge concerns an alleged sexual assault of an aspiring actress …

Documentary filmmaker Ken Burns is being honored in Philadelphia with an award from the Museum of the American Revolution. The museum announced Thursday that Burns will receive the Gerry Lenfest Spirit of the American Revolution Award. The museum says the award honors Burns’ “lifetime of work advancing understanding of our …

Former FBI acting Director Andrew McCabe says his book has been delayed because of an FBI review and he’s concerned he’s been singled out for what he calls “irregular unfair treatment.” McCabe’s book was scheduled for release Dec. 4. He now says in a statement that it will come out …

Declaring that his red  “MAGA” hat makes him “feel like Superman,” rapper Kanye West made a free-styling appearance in the Oval Office Thursday.   Ahead of a private lunch, President Donald Trump and West spoke with reporters as they sat across from each other at the Resolute desk. West dominated …

Tap dance, a young student says with a giggle, is “a bit louder than ballet.” Wearing leotards and pale pink tights, she and three other girls skip across the floor at a community center in Albany, California. Their shiny black tap shoes make them sound like a small herd of …

Cardi B and Post Malone marked major breakthroughs in the last year, but the rap stars won’t compete for best new artist at the 2019 Grammy Awards. Cardi B, who earned two nominations at this year’s Grammys held in February, was not eligible for nomination because of her previous nominations. …