Stars, including Lady Gaga and Kelly Clarkson, turned out on the Grammys red carpet Sunday displaying white roses in solidarity with the Time’s Up and #MeToo movements against sexual misconduct on music’s biggest night for what is usually the wildest display of fashion during awards season. Gaga was in a …

Robert Parry, a longtime investigative journalist who was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 1985 for his Associated Press exclusives about the CIA’s production of an assassination manual for Nicaraguan rebels, has died. He was 68. Parry died Saturday in hospice care after a series of strokes brought on by undiagnosed …

For musicians from the West African nation of Burkina Faso, a nomination for a Grammy Award should have been the crowning achievement of a musical career. Instead, musicians based in Bobo-Dioulasso, whose work is featured on the three-disk compilation “Bobo Yeye,” didn’t even know they had been nominated or that …

Without the use of traditional instruments and in an interconnected world, what makes a Chinese composition distinctively Chinese? The Juilliard School’s Focus! Festival 2018 seeks to challenge our preconceptions of the 1.4 billion-population nation, led by a cast of contemporary Chinese composers and acclaimed Juilliard orchestral students. VOA’s Ramon Taylor …

Comic strip artist Mort Walker, a World War II veteran who satirized the Army and tickled millions of newspaper readers with the antics of the lazy private Beetle Bailey, died Saturday. He was 94.  Walker died at his home in Stamford, Connecticut, said Greg Walker, his eldest son and a collaborator. …

Danish tennis star Caroline Wozniacki won her first grand slam title Saturday at the Australian Open in Melbourne, besting Romanian Simona Halep, 7-6 (2), 3-6, 6-4. “I have to take a second to hug Daphne,” Wozniacki told reporters after being awarded the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup at the prize ceremony. “It’s …

One of the world’s most famous toys turns 60 on Jan. 28. The Lego building block, a tool of innovation and cause of severe pain to anyone who’s ever stepped on one, celebrates a milestone. Arash Arabasadi reports. …

Billionaire casino mogul Steve Wynn is denying allegations of sexual harassment after a report in the Wall Street Journal detailed allegations of misconduct and caused shares of his casino company to drop 10 percent Friday. Wynn said in a statement Friday “The idea that I ever assaulted any woman is …

Michigan State University Athletic Director Mark Hollis resigned Friday, two days after the school’s president stepped down amid a storm of criticism about how it handled the sexual assault scandal that led to the conviction of former school faculty member and USA Gymnastics physician Larry Nassar. Nassar was sentenced Wednesday …

A Moscow cinema has been warned after defying a government ban on showing The Death Of Stalin. (Please see related stories link for VOA story on “The Death of Stalin”) The black comedy was screened to a packed audience on January 25, and many said they didn’t find the satirical …

This is the Top Five Countdown! We’re punching up the five most popular songs in the Billboard Hot 100 Pop Singles chart, for the week ending Jan. 27, 2018. Some songs crawl up the chart while others fly … this week we meet one of the latter. Number 5: G-Eazy …

Two African dancers in tribal costumes and painted faces — one man and one woman — alternate between strong, gyrating movements and slow, smooth motions before a small crowd at the opening of the 8th East Africa Art Biennale in Nairobi, hosted by the French cultural organization, Alliance Francaise.    Halfway …

Scott Cooper’s western, Hostiles, addresses the theme of reconciliation amid the racial divide between whites and Native Americans at the end of the 19th century. VOA’s Penelope Poulou spoke with Native American actor Wes Studi about his role in the film and its message in today’s America. …

A traveling exhibit by the East Africa Art Biennale has opened for the first time in Kenya’s capital. Titled “Moving Art Across East Africa Borders,” the show features works by 62 artists from 11 countries and aims to promote East Africa’s emerging artistic talent. VOA’s Daniel Schearf attended the opening …

The excitement of a run for the White House by media mogul Oprah Winfrey has come to an anticlimactic end. Winfrey tells InStyle magazine that running for president is not in her DNA. “It’s not something that interests me,” she said in an interview published Thursday. “I met with someone …

Some parents thought they were misinterpreting the doctor’s techniques. Others assumed their children were lying or mistaken. But as more details emerged, the mothers and fathers had to face an awful truth: A renowned sports doctor had molested their daughters. These parents, many fighting back tears, confronted Larry Nassar during …

When the White House asked to borrow a Van Gogh painting from New York’s Guggenheim Museum, the request was denied. Instead, curator Nancy Spector, offered another piece of art: an 18-karat, fully functioning, solid gold toilet. The toilet was used as a temporary interactive exhibit in one of the museum’s …

Los Angeles musician William Close holds the world record for the longest stringed instrument, a device he invented and has played around the world called the Earth Harp.   Close uses resin-coated gloves to demonstrate the instrument at his Malibu studio, with strings stretched from the instrument to metal stakes …

After several near misses and heaps of outrage, this could finally be hip-hop and R&B’s year at the Grammy Awards on Sunday where rappers Jay-Z and Kendrick Lamar dominate nominations for the top prizes on the biggest night in music. Rap is now officially the biggest music genre in the …

A Syrian refugee will be cooking dishes from Damascus and Aleppo for VIP guests at the opening of the Berlinale International Film Festival next month. The choice of Malakeh Jazmati reflects the mission of the festival, which was set up in 1951 to showcase films that address urgent social and …

Just two days before its scheduled release in Russian theaters, a tongue-in-check black comedy about Soviet dictator Josef Stalin, “The Death of Stalin,” has been banned by the Kremlin’s Culture Ministry. In Park City, Utah, however, where British director Armando Iannucci and several cast members are still presenting the film, …

Egypt’s Antiquities Ministry says it has placed the ancient colossus of famed pharaoh Ramses II at the entrance of a museum under construction near the country’s famed pyramids outside the capital Cairo. Thursday’s placement of the colossus, which weighs over 80 tons and is some 12 meters (13 yards) high, …

Southern rock icons Lynyrd Skynyrd will kick off their final tour May 4 in West Palm Beach, Florida, more than 40 years after the band’s debut album was released.     The Rock `N’ Roll Hall of Famers announced Thursday that the farewell tour will also feature Kid Rock, Hank …

There was anger about a rumored romance between a Hindu queen and a Muslim invader. There were death threats. There were buses burned and grandstanding politicians.   But when the Indian film “Padmaavat” was finally released on Thursday amid heavy security and breathless TV coverage, Bollywood’s latest over-the-top offering turned …

The music industry hasn’t been rocked with as many public allegations of sexual misconduct as Hollywood, but insiders are still seeking to show solidarity with the (hash)MeToo movement on its biggest night.   Key executives have called on artists and employees alike to wear a white rose on Sunday in …