A painting of Christ by the Renaissance master Leonardo da Vinci sold for a record $450 million (380 million euros) at auction on Wednesday, smashing previous records for artworks sold at auction or privately.   The painting, called “Salvator Mundi,” Italian for “Savior of the World,” is one of fewer …

The Puerto Rican rapper, who leads nominations with nine nods for his first solo album post-Calle 13 — including album, record and song of the year — admits that he felt pressured to do “something huge and great” after spending a decade with the most decorated act in the history …

A former Argentine lawyer for a government-run soccer television program ran in front of a Buenos Aires train and committed suicide late Tuesday, hours after being accused in a New York court of receiving bribes, police said. Jorge Delhon, attorney for the Futbol Para Todos (Soccer for All) program, received …

Media giants Globo and Televisa teamed with a marketing firm to make a $15 million bribe to a FIFA executive to help them secure lucrative broadcasting rights to the World Cup in 2026 and 2030, the firm’s former CEO testified on Wednesday. Alejandro Burzaco, a key witness at a U.S. …

The U.S. state of Minnesota lost its bid to host what would have been the first world’s fair on U.S. soil in almost 40 years when the organization that oversees the events voted Wednesday to make Argentina’s capital the site of one planned for 2022-2023.   The Trump administration has …

Blake Shelton was named Sexiest Man Alive by People magazine, a first for any country singer, prompting “The Voice” judge to shake off his shyness about his looks. “I’ve been ugly my whole life,” Shelton, 41, said in a statement on Tuesday. “If I can be sexy for a year, …

Ezra Miller brings an electric energy to the superhero team-up film “Justice League,” pinballing off the more imposing presences of Henry Cavill, Gal Gadot and Ben Affleck.   They are mighty. He is fast.   Miller was first cast as Barry Allen, a.k.a. The Flash, several years ago, but “Justice …

For his latest role, as an attorney who defends young people of color imprisoned without trial, Oscar-winning actor Denzel Washington weighed how family dynamics played into the lives of young criminals. “I grew up with guys who did decades (in prison) and it had as much to do with their …

Taylor Swift’s new album “Reputation” has sold more than one million copies in its first five days, Nielsen Music said on Tuesday, but the U.S. pop star failed to beat the record set by Britain’s Adele two years ago. Swift’s 1.05 million U.S. sales of “Reputation” came despite the singer …

There were movie stars and supermodels, TV hosts and pop stars.   But perhaps the most rapturous ovation at Glamour magazine’s annual Women of the Year awards went to 79-year-old Democratic U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters of California, who delighted the crowd — including hundreds of cheering young girls — with …

David Beckham, Millie Bobby Brown and Hugh Jackman are among celebrities and world leaders announced Tuesday as participants and official supporters of the UNICEF initiative World Children’s Day. The organization said events around the globe will focus on child takeovers to mark the day Monday, including a gathering at the …

In a star-studded night in Washington, the American Film Institute and the Library of Congress celebrated 50 years of partnership in film preservation.  Actor Morgan Freeman, American Film Institute founder George Stevens and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi were among the celebrities honoring half a century of partnership between the …

Dr. Gail Stern is funny. And she uses that in her work, teaching college students, members of the military, business people and others how to prevent sexual violence. Stern says she began doing standup comedy as a teenager and found that getting people to laugh also got them to open …

Comic and podcast host Chelsea Shorte is onstage on a cold Wednesday night in a small restaurant in Alexandria, Virginia. She is telling her mostly female audience about her transition from improv comedy to standup.   “I got tired of being cast as people’s moms even though I was 23,” …

Amazon.com has bought the global television rights to “The Lord of the Rings,” the company said on Monday, in what may be its biggest and most expensive move yet to draw viewers to its streaming and shopping club Prime. Amazon said it will produce a multi-season series that explores new …

Peace never reigns in the pages of DC Comics. There’s always a world to be saving, a cataclysm to avert. The making of the DC superhero team-up film “Justice League” was hardly any more tranquil. Made in the wake of the disappointment surrounding its predecessor, “Batman v Superman,” and the …

The maker of Barbie says it will sell a doll modeled after Ibtihaj Muhammad, an American fencer who competed in last year’s Olympics while wearing a hijab.   Mattel says the doll will be available online next fall. The doll is part of the Barbie “Shero” line that honors women …

The maker of Barbie says it will sell a doll modeled after Ibtihaj Muhammad, an American fencer who competed in last year’s Olympics while wearing a hijab.   Mattel says the doll will be available online next fall. The doll is part of the Barbie “Shero” line that honors women …

Italian state museums are on track for another record-setting year in 2017 in terms of visitors and revenue, with the outdoor Colosseum in Rome and Pompeii near Naples topping the Culture Ministry’s most-visited and most-lucrative list. The ministry on Monday issued a three-year review of its revolutionary decision to bring …

The last document President John F. Kennedy signed in the White House is up for grabs in Philadelphia. A rare documents dealer is selling a photograph that Kennedy autographed for an ambassador for $80,000. Raab Collection President Nathan Raab says it’s “one of the finest and most powerful mementos” of …

When celebrated Indian fashion designer Wendell Rodricks sat down to write his third book, haute couture was not on his mind. He was thinking about his neighbor Rosa — an elderly woman who had lived her life as a poskem — adopted as a child by a wealthy family in the western …

Travel blogger Mikah Meyer takes us on a ferry ride to San Juan National State Park in Washington state. …

Armed with signs, catchy phrases and a motivation to take #MeToo beyond the internet and into real life, a few hundred women, men and children gathered Sunday among the sex shops and tourist traps of Hollywood Boulevard to protest sexual harassment.   The Take Back the Workplace March and the …

It takes more than a red suit and a white beard to be a good Santa Claus. That’s an important lesson taught at the longest continuously running Santa Claus school in the world. Charlie W. Howard, who was the featured Santa Claus in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade for 17 …

For more than a century she was known as the woman behind the throne, the empress who through skill and circumstance rose from lowly imperial consort to iron-fisted ruler of China at a time and in a place when women were believed to have no power at all. But it …