On the last day of the calendar year, “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” has surpassed “Beauty and the Beast” as the top grossing film in North America in 2017. It also topped the charts for the weekend for the third time, but just barely – Dwayne Johnson’s “Jumanji: Welcome to …

The U.S. Library of Congress says it will no longer collect every single tweet published on Twitter as it has been doing for the past 12 years.  The library said this week that it can no longer collect everything across the entire social media platform because of recent changes Twitter …

It’s not an Olympic sport, at least not yet, but pinball has a growing body of top-level athletes, and a growing number of international competitions. Faith Lapidus reports. …

Readying for his first television interview, Alex Wang gazes at his reflection in the back window of his yellow cab. Wiping his windswept mane behind the ear, he adjusts his red Shanghai Tang jacket and takes a swig of steaming tea. “Ahh,” he pauses emphatically, “warms your whole body.” Wang …

The New York City Taxi Drivers Calendar began as a tongue-in-cheek alternative to the famous chisel-chested firefighter pin-up, while benefiting a nonprofit that serves immigrant and low-income families. Now in its fifth year, the creators of the parody calendar are out with their 2018 edition, and it may be their …

Ex-Beatles drummer Ringo Starr has been knighted in Queen Elizabeth’s New Year’s honors list, along with Bee Gees singer Barry Gibb and author Michael Morpurgo, while ballet dancer Darcey Bussell becomes a dame. Ringo, 77, real name Richard Starkey, joined the Beatles as a replacement drummer for Pete Best in …

Some made us dance and filled our hearts with music, others made us dream with movies. While they are no longer with us, their work has touched many. From American and French music icons Chuck Berry and Johnny Hallyday to beloved American TV star Mary Tyler Moore to Chinese human …

It’s called the Crossroads of the World. New York City’s Times Square is the location for one of the biggest parties of the year, marked by the dramatic descent of a crystal ball on a huge pole, from high above a crowd of about a million people celebrating New Year’s …

Mystery writer Sue Grafton has died in Santa Barbara, California. She was 77. Her daughter, Jamie Clark, posted news of her mother’s death on Grafton’s web page Friday. She says her mother passed away Thursday night after a two-year battle with cancer and was surrounded by family, including Grafton’s husband, …

The launch of Angelina’s Jolie’s Khmer language feature “First They Killed My Father” promised to deliver a much needed shot of exposure and enthusiasm into the arm of Cambodia’s emergent film industry. Instead of using the spotlight to springboard their productions though, leading Cambodian filmmakers are fearing a proposed tax …

Maame Biney, a 17-year-old from Ghana, will be the first African-American woman to represent the U.S. on the speedskating short track team at the 2018 Winter Olympics Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, in February. VOA’s Salem Solomon visited her where she first started skating in a local ice rink in …

A new book just hit the bookstores in Europe and the U.S. that tries to show life in Africa beyond the stereotypes and misconceptions infused in Western media. Africa 54’s Zoe Leoudaki has the details …

The drawings and paintings on the walls and sculptures on display are not the only art to see at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. Floral arrangements are designed to complement the exhibits and time of season. VOA Russian Service reporter Elena Wolf takes us behind the scenes at the …

Actress and comedienne Rose Marie, who grew up from a child superstar to become a television comedy legend, died Thursday in Hollywood at 94. She spent her entire life as a star, and was one of the last surviving entertainers whose career spanned all media — vaudeville, records, movies, Broadway, …

The discovery in China of an underground army of nearly 8,000 life-size terracotta soldiers is considered one of the greatest archaeological finds of the 20th century.  More than four decades after they were first seen in modern times, by farmers in Shaanxi province, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts has …

On Sydney’s glittering harbor, the Chinese have been on a mission to conquer the world of sailing.  With an average age of 24, the crew onboard the yacht De Rucci includes professional athletes and former members of China’s special forces. They have been here training and competing for weeks in …

With echoes of Rebecca and lavish Max Ophuls productions, writer and director Paul Thomas Anderson spins the tale of an obsessive fashion designer and his muse into a suspenseful and often funny parlor drama with all the trimmings in Phantom Thread. Anderson is revered for his grand stage meditations on …

Russian ballet and its dancers are famous the world over and inspire many Russians to pursue a career in the classical dance.  But to break into ballet, dancers have to struggle through a brutal training regime and gender stereotypes.  VOA Moscow videographer Ricardo Marquina Montanana talked to an aspiring ballerina …

Kenneth Branagh is teasing the return of “old friends” in his planned sequel to “Murder on the Orient Express.”  Branagh is expected to both direct and reprise his role as the fancifully mustachioed lead character Detective Hercule Poirot in “Death on the Nile,” another mystery based on an Agatha Christie …

At the age of 5, Maame Biney immigrated to the U.S. from Ghana to live with her father. She was an energetic child, and her father wanted to channel that energy into a sport. One day, they drove by a local ice rink in Reston, Virginia, where a sign in …

When schoolchildren in Washington, D.C. are asked to say the first thing that comes to mind about Africa, they use words like hot, desert, sand, poverty, hunger, war and Ebola.   These are all accurate things to say about that part or the world — but they reflect an “incomplete” picture, …

Atop a lake covered by thick ice, fishermen in Northeast China cast out the first net for this year’s winter fishing festival. It’s an ancient yearly tradition that these days is as much an international spectator sport as it is a source of food. Arash Arabasadi reports. …

Actress Heather Menzies-Urich, who played one of the singing von Trapp children in the 1965 hit film, “The Sound of Music,” has died. She was 68. Her son, actor Ryan Urich, told Variety that his mother died late Sunday in Frankford, Ontario, Canada. She had been diagnosed with brain cancer. …

The Somali Football Federation (SFF) has announced plans to host international games beginning next year because of improving security, the head of the body has announced. President of the SFF, Abdiqani Said Arab, says the time has come for Somalia to organize home games in the country’s soccer stadiums in …

Quietly, Bonna Neang Weinstein wept. Her husband, Howard Weinstein, sitting next to her, held her hand, comforting her. “It reminded me of everything and myself,” she said of a December 15 performance of “Bangsokol: A Requiem for Cambodia” at the Next Wave Festival at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM). …