Three women stare down from the gallery wall — colorful, defiant and imbued with a spirit of working for the many not the few. They are a brigadier, a factory worker and a youth volunteer with a hoe. They are paintings of socialist realism. They are also all Albanian women …

The Victoria & Albert Museum’s new exhibition is a psychedelic time capsule of a show devoted to the band Pink Floyd, complete with floating pigs, surreal animations and trippy projections.  But it’s not the visuals, or the group’s experimental and sometimes indulgent music, that marks this out as an ode to …

The Recording Academy announced Tuesday that the 2018 Grammys would return to New York City after spending the last 14 years in Los Angeles. The show will take place at Madison Square Garden on January 28, 2018.   Madison Square Garden last hosted the Grammys in 2003. Spike Lee, a …

Jimmy Kimmel zinged his critics as he returned to late-night TV and resumed arguing that Americans deserve the level of health care given his infant son. Back on ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live” Monday after a week’s absence, he said baby Billy is recovering well from open-heart surgery for a birth …

Anne Morrissy Merick, who successfully fought for equal treatment of female reporters during the Vietnam War, has died. She was 83. Morrissy Merick died May 2 of complications from dementia in Naples, Florida, said her daughter Katherine Anne Engleke. ABC had assigned Morrissy Merick to cover the war in 1967 …

It’s not a movie set, but visitors to Disney World’s new Pandora-World of Avatar land are in for a cinematic experience. The 12-acre land, inspired by the “Avatar” movie, opens in Florida in late May at Walt Disney World’s Animal Kingdom. It cost a half-billion dollars to build.   The …

Neither Bill Clinton nor James Patterson has ever tried something like this before.   The former president and the best-selling novelist are collaborating on a thriller, “The President is Missing,” to come out June 2018 as an unusual joint release from rival publishers — Alfred A. Knopf and Little, Brown and …

An Iranian student who happens to look uncannily like soccer great Lionel Messi, nearly ended up in jail for disrupting public order. A photo event in Reza Paratesh’s home town of Hamedan attracted so many fans that police had to close it down, according to AFP. Paratesh’s brush with fame …

Pepe, the green, cartoon frog who some believed was a symbol of white supremacy, is dead. The creation of cartoonist Matt Furie, Pepe was shown in a recent comic strip dead in an open casket with his imaginary friends gathered around to mourn his death. Pepe first appeared online around …

Film hit Beauty and the Beast and Netflix newcomer Stranger Things were the night’s big winners with two trophies apiece as MTV partied with its Movie & TV Awards show. For this, the 26th edition of what was formerly known as the MTV Movie Awards, TV was added to the …

Nicki Minaj is putting some fans on scholarship.   After a fan asked the hip-hop star if she would pay his college tuition on Twitter on Saturday night, Minaj agreed to pay fans’ school costs – on the condition that they show her perfect marks. She wrote , “Show me …

Steven Holcomb was simultaneously ordinary and remarkable. America’s best bobsled pilot was a self-described computer geek who would rub elbows with Hollywood stars. He was never exactly in the best of shape, yet was a world-class athlete. He attempted suicide years ago, then revealed his story with hopes of helping …

Always Dreaming splashed through the slop to win the Kentucky Derby by 2¾ lengths Saturday, giving trainer Todd Pletcher and jockey John Velazquez their second victories in the race but their first together. Pletcher and Velazquez have teamed up often over the years and are the sport’s leading money winners. …

Thunderstorms and wind had delayed the Hindenburg’s arrival in New Jersey from Germany on May 6, 1937. The father of 8-year-old Werner Doehner headed to his cabin after using his movie camera to shoot some scenes of Lakehurst Naval Air Station from the airship’s dining room. “We didn’t see him …

The U.S. Kentucky Derby, the first of three major yearly horse races in the United States, will take place on Saturday with rain in the forecast, adding another variable to an already unpredictable race. The 20-horse field lacks a clear dominant horse following winter preparatory races, and the 40 percent …

J.K. Rowling is launching a free online book club for fans and newcomers to her “Harry Potter” series. The Wizarding World Book Club will launch in June in celebration of the 20th anniversary of “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone,” the first in what would become a seven-book series. The …

Eliud Kipchoge was 26 seconds from making history Saturday but the Olympic champion finished just short of becoming the first person to run a marathon in less than two hours.    Kipchoge ran the 26.2 miles (42.2 kilometers) in 2 hours, 26 seconds, beating Dennis Kimetto’s world mark of 2:02:57. …

Giacomo Puccini’s Madame Butterfly comes to the Kennedy Center in Washington with Albanian-American soprano Ermonela Jaho playing the title role. Jaho is fast becoming one of the most sought-after sopranos in the world. She credits her success to her emotional surrender to every role, including Puccini’s masterpiece, which she says …

In 1971, 24 years after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier by becoming the first African-American baseball player, the Pittsburgh Pirates made history by fielding the first all minority team. As VOA’s Kane Farabaugh reports, the Pirates continue to break ground for Major League Baseball, now by looking beyond borders …

Country music singer Loretta Lynn has been hospitalized after suffering a stroke at her home in Tennessee. Lynn’s official website said the 85-year-old singer and songwriter was admitted to a Nashville hospital where she “is responsive and expected to make a full recovery.” It said Lynn’s upcoming shows have been …

As a member of the country trio Pistol Annies, singer-songwriter Angaleena Presley often got questions about the lack of women on country radio, which she responded to with a safe sound bite about musical trends being cyclical and being hopeful for change. But privately, she didn’t believe it.   “Every …

The Kentucky Derby, the first of three annual major horse races in the United States, takes place Saturday without a dominant runner. Classic Empire, at odds of 4-1, is the narrow favorite in the opener of the U.S. Triple Crown, as the three races are known. Two horses, Always Dreaming …

“Game Of Thrones” stars Lena Headey and Iain Glen are taking a break from swords and intrigue to tackle a real-world crisis in their latest venture: a low-budget, independent film on Europe’s refugees. Both appear as immigration officers in “The Flood,” which follows the journey of an Eritrean migrant trying …

Three elite runners from East Africa will try Saturday to reach one of track and field’s most elusive goals: the sub-two-hour marathon. Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya, Lelisa Desisa of Ethiopia and Zersenay Tadese of Eritrea will run on a flat, closed 2.4-kilometer course in Monza, Italy, chosen for its optimal …

In Aleppo, Syria, even as Bashar al-Assad’s regime destroys the city and its inhabitants with barrel bombs and airstrikes, many civilians risk their lives to rescue the injured and pull the dead from the rubble. Since 2013, these volunteers from all walks of life have created the Syrian Civil Defense, …