The common stereotype has teens glued to their phones 24-7. But nearly 60 percent of teens in the U.S. have actually taken a break from social media – the bulk of them voluntarily, a new survey found . The poll, from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, surveyed …

This is the Top Five Countdown! We’re hangin’ with the five most popular songs in the Billboard Hot 100 Pop Singles chart, for the week ending April 29, 2017. It turns out that lighting does strike twice in the same place, because we get a Top Five debut for the …

Oscar-winning U.S. film director Jonathan Demme, who terrified audiences and also made them laugh, died Wednesday in New York at 73. His family said Demme suffered from cancer of the esophagus. Demme may be considered one of the most eclectic directors in Hollywood history — directing rousing comedies, horror, concert …

Musician David Byrne, known for his work with the 1980s pop band Talking Heads, wrote an urgent blog post this month. “I just got back from a rally at City Hall,” he said, referring to a New York City rally to support arts funding. “I spoke very briefly, making the …

In some of the lowest performing elementary and middle schools in the U.S., students are learning in an unconventional way.    “I like to act and I like to sing and I like to dance,” said 10-year-old Kayla Driakare, whose teachers at Florence Griffith Joyner Elementary School are incorporating much …

President Trump’s proposed cuts to the federal budget for the arts is creating concern that it may impact a program started by former first lady Michelle Obama that is showing signs of success. Turnaround Arts gets some funding from federal tax dollars, and it helps some of the nation’s lowest …

In upstate New York, John Lundemo is making a living by making high end swords. He carves each sword with a distinctive style of his own, a style he developed over the years. Inspiration for his creativity comes from different places. And as Faiza Elmasry tells us, that’s what makes …

Pope Francis made a surprise appearance at a TED talk conference on Tuesday, urging powerful leaders “to act humbly” and said he hoped technological innovation would not leave people behind. The 18-minute video was filmed in Vatican City and broadcast to the audience at the annual TED 2017 conference in …

The Grammy Museum is putting rare Ella Fitzgerald memorabilia on display for what would have been the singing legend’s 100th birthday. The museum’s “Ella at 100: Celebrating the Artistry of Ella Fitzgerald” exhibition includes the first Grammy Award  that Fitzgerald won — the first awarded to an African-American woman — …

When it comes to music and visual arts, American teenagers could use some help. The National Center for Education Statistics reported Tuesday that in 2016, American eighth graders scored an average 147 in music and 149 in visual arts on a scale of 300. Some 8,800 eighth graders from public …

The papal almsgiver has made a donation, in the name of Pope Francis, to cover the annual rent for a beach area near Rome used by disabled youths. The Madonnina, an association that runs the beach establishment near Rome without barriers for the disabled, in a statement Tuesday announced the …

Egypt’s tourism levels are still around a third of what they once were and, despite security concerns, Egypt’s tourism minister on Monday insisted the country’s popular Red Sea resorts and Ancient Egyptian sites are a safe choice for travelers. “We are saying that the tourism sector is safe, the airports …

The small wicker doll chair was a modest toy, but it meant the world to Louise Lawrence-Israels. A gift for her second birthday, it was the only toy she possessed during the approximately three years she spent hiding from the Nazis in Amsterdam, just five blocks from the house where …

Nine years after his death at age 28, audiences are seeing a different side of Australian actor Heath Ledger through the lens of his own camera. Documentary “I Am Heath Ledger” uses thousands of hours of self video shot by Ledger, as well as his art work and music videos, …

Elton John spent two nights in intensive care with a potentially deadly bacterial infection and has canceled all his concerts for the rest of April and May, his publicist said on Monday. The British musician, 70, became “violently ill” on a flight home from his recent South American tour, spokeswoman …

For the first 20 years of Markus Rindt’s life, he knew just how far he could travel — no further west than the wall that split Germany in two. “I grew up with walls around me —it was a weird situation, to see that the world seems to end at …

Coming soon to West End and Broadway stages: Rex Tillerson, Jeff Sessions, Tom Price and Scott Pruitt   Four key players in President Donald Trump’s new administration are central characters in a “verbatim play,” boiled down from combative U.S. Senate confirmation hearings, that looks to Trump’s Cabinet picks for clues …

Billionaire Elon Musk is getting close with actress Amber Heard.   The pair is shown in paparazzi photos zip-lining in Australia, where Heard is filming “Aquaman.” Both Musk and Heard posted pictures to their Instagram accounts Monday showing Musk with lipstick on his cheek left behind from a kiss. Musk …

Robert De Niro helped Burt Reynolds onto the red carpet for the Tribeca Film Festival premiere of his new movie “Dog Years” Saturday night in New York. It was a rare appearance for the 81-year old actor, who at times struggled to walk. Reynolds was given a chair on the …

Erin Moran, the former child star who played Joanie Cunningham in the sitcoms Happy Days and Joanie Loves Chachi, died Saturday at age 56. A statement from the sheriff’s department in Harrison County, Indiana, said the dispatcher “received a 911 call about an unresponsive female. Upon arrival of first responders, it was …

The gigantic black and white portraits of children started appearing on walls around a suburban neighborhood of Havana two years ago, the work of Cuban artist Maisel Lopez. The sober, finely painted portraits contrast with Cuba’s dilapidated buildings and pot-holed streets, colorful vintage cars and peeling pink, apricot and turquoise …

Philosopher, humanitarian and physicist Albert Einstein is the subject of new TV series “Genius,” which delves into the drama and passion of the man who developed the theory of relativity and helped initiate the U.S. effort to build an atomic bomb. Executive producer Ron Howard told reporters at the TV …

Fans are marking the anniversary of U.S. musician Prince’s sudden death from an accidental drug overdose with visits to his Paisley Park home, which has been turned into a museum. The museum is hosting a four-day event that includes concert performances by Prince’s former bandmates and panel discussions. It was …

They call themselves “water protectors” and describe the Dakota Access pipeline ferrying crude oil across America as “the black snake.” In “Awake: A Dream From Standing Rock,” the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and those who flocked to windswept tribal lands in North Dakota last year to protest the pipeline, get …

For Prince fans, Friday’s one-year anniversary of his shocking death from an accidental drug overdose will be a time for sadness and celebration.   At his Paisley Park home and recording studio-turned-museum, a full four days of events are on tap, ranging from concert performances by his former bandmates to …