After more than five years of frenetic reconstruction work, Notre Dame Cathedral showed its new self to the world Friday, with rebuilt soaring ceilings and creamy good-as-new stonework erasing somber memories of its devastating fire in 2019. Images broadcast live of a site visit by French President Emmanuel Macron showed …
your ad hereIn photos: Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade
Some images from the 98th Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade in New York. …
your ad hereManhattan artist invites Americans to write postcards to US president
Since 2004, former New York Times editor and now artist Sheryl Oring has been giving Americans a chance to speak their truth to the world. Dressed in 1950s secretary attire, she invites the public to speak their mind and records it on her vintage typewriter as part of a project …
your ad hereSeattle Museum of Pop Culture honors Jimi Hendrix
November 27th marks the birthday of iconic American guitarist and songwriter Jimi Hendrix. In his hometown of Seattle, the Museum of Pop Culture, inspired by his groundbreaking music, celebrated his enduring legacy with family members, former colleagues, and fans. Natasha Mozgovaya has the story. …
your ad hereFrom VOA Spanish: Alfonso Cuarón and art of reinventing oneself
Alfonso Cuarón spoke with VOA at the 2024 Miami Film Festival, where the director won a lifetime achievement award from Miami Dade College for his contributions to cinema. He urged aspiring filmmakers to study the history of cinema and the development of film language. See the full story here. …
your ad hereFrom VOA Spanish: Argentine artist’s NYC exhibit raises awareness on human trafficking
Argentine artist Guillermina Grinbaum’s new exhibit in New York, “Hilo de Voz/Whispering Thread,” uses a range of creative materials and techniques, including painting, sculpture and interactive installations, to call attention to gender violence and human trafficking. See the full story here. …
your ad hereSouth African dissident writer and poet Breyten Breytenbach dies at 85
JOHANNESBURG — South African writer and poet Breyten Breytenbach, a staunch opponent of the former white-minority government’s apartheid policy of racial oppression, has died in Paris, his family announced on Sunday. He was 85. Breytenbach was a celebrated wordsmith, a leading voice in literature in Afrikaans — an offshoot of Dutch …
your ad here‘Wicked’ and ‘Gladiator’ make gravity-defying theater debuts
New York — With a combined $270 million in worldwide ticket sales, “Wicked” and “Gladiator II” breathed fresh life into a box office that has struggled lately, leading to one of the busiest moviegoing weekends of the year. Jon M. Chu’s lavish big-budget musical “Wicked,” starring Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, …
your ad hereElvis Smylie holds out mentor Cam Smith to win the Australian PGA by 2 shots
BRISBANE, Australia — Australian Elvis Smylie shot a 4-under 67 to win the 54-hole Australian PGA on Sunday by two shots after a final round shootout with his compatriot and former mentor Cameron Smith. Smylie finished on 14-under 199, two ahead of Smith who had a 2-under final round 69. Smith’s …
your ad hereHas a waltz written by composer Frederic Chopin been discovered in an NYC museum?
NEW YORK — The brooding waltz was carefully composed on a sheet of music roughly the size of an index card. The brief, moody number also bore an intriguing name, written at the top in cursive: “Chopin.” A previously unknown work of music penned by the European master Frederic Chopin appears …
your ad hereAlice Brock, who helped inspire Arlo Guthrie’s classic ‘Alice’s Restaurant,’ dies at 83
NEW YORK — Alice Brock, whose Massachusetts-based eatery helped inspire Arlo Guthrie’s deadpan Thanksgiving standard, Alice’s Restaurant Massacree, has died at age 83. Her death, just a week before Thanksgiving, was announced Friday by Guthrie on the Facebook page of his own Rising Son Records. Guthrie wrote that she died in …
your ad hereDuct-taped banana goes for $6.2 million in Sotheby’s art auction
A piece of art that is little more than a banana duct-taped to a wall sold at auction for $6.2 million on Wednesday to cryptocurrency entrepreneur Justin Sun, Sotheby’s said, furthering the universal conversation about what constitutes art. “Comedian,” by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan, first rocked the art world upon …
your ad hereCookie masters create gingerbread versions of New York icons
Making decorative gingerbread houses is a Christmas tradition in several countries. A New York City museum has gone a step further by using the humble holiday cookie to construct a stunning tribute to the Big Apple. Aron Ranen has the story. …
your ad hereArthur Frommer, travel guide innovator, has died at 95
NEW YORK — Arthur Frommer, whose “Europe on 5 Dollars a Day” guidebooks revolutionized leisure travel by convincing average Americans to take budget vacations abroad, has died. He was 95. Frommer died from complications of pneumonia, his daughter Pauline Frommer said Monday. “My father opened up the world to so many …
your ad hereTeenage Buddhist lama marks last birthday in US before joining monastery in Himalayas
ISANTI, Minn. — The young Buddhist lama sat on a throne near an altar decorated with flowers, fruits and golden statues of the Buddha, watching the celebrations of his 18th birthday in silence, with a faint smile. Jalue Dorje knew it would be the last big party before he joins a …
your ad hereDwayne Johnson’s $200 million-plus Christmas pic opens to $34.1 million
Los Angeles — Moviegoers were not exactly feeling the Christmas spirit this weekend, or at least not based on their attendance at “Red One” showings. The big budget, star-driven action comedy with Dwayne Johnson and Chris Evans sold $34.1 million in tickets in its first weekend in theaters, according to studio …
your ad hereCultural experts urge UN to shield war-torn Lebanon’s heritage
Beirut — Hundreds of cultural professionals, including archeologists and academics, called on the United Nations to safeguard war-torn Lebanon’s heritage in a petition published Sunday ahead of a crucial UNESCO meeting. Several Israeli strikes in recent weeks on Baalbek in the east and Tyre in the south — both strongholds of …
your ad hereBela Karolyi, controversial Olympic gymnasts coach, dies at 82
Bela Karolyi, the charismatic if polarizing gymnastics coach who turned young women into champions and the United States into an international power in the sport, has died. He was 82. USA Gymnastics said Karolyi died Friday. No cause of death was given. Karolyi and wife, Martha, trained multiple Olympic gold …
your ad hereJake Paul beats boxing legend Mike Tyson
ARLINGTON, TEXAS — Jake Paul beat boxing legend Mike Tyson by unanimous decision to win an intergenerational heavyweight battle in Texas on Friday that failed to live up to its enormous hype. The bout between the 27-year-old social media influencer-turned-prizefighter Paul and the 58-year-old former heavyweight champion Tyson was streamed live …
your ad hereJapan’s sake brewers hope UNESCO heritage listing can boost rice wine’s appeal
OME, Japan — Deep in a dark warehouse the sake sleeps, stored in rows of giant tanks, each holding more than 10,000 liters of the Japanese rice wine that is the product of brewing techniques dating back more than 1,000 years. Junichiro Ozawa, the 18th-generation head of Ozawa Brewery, founded in …
your ad hereChina’s underground raves include street techno, quotes from Chairman Mao
CHANGCHUN, China — Crouch through the small metal door and walk down the dark tunnel, and even before you step into the abandoned air raid shelter, the air reverberates with pounding techno beats. Young Chinese holding booze and cigarettes shake and sway in a red-lit passageway, below a big screen rolling …
your ad hereA criticized Airbnb deal will let users play gladiator in Rome’s Colosseum
ROME — The ancient Roman Colosseum will be the venue of gladiator fights — albeit staged — for the first time in two millennia under a $1.5 million sponsorship deal with Airbnb that aims to promote “a more conscious tourism.” But some visitors to the monument Thursday, as well as housing …
your ad hereBritish writer Samantha Harvey’s space-station novel ‘Orbital’ wins Booker Prize for fiction
LONDON — British writer Samantha Harvey won the Booker Prize for fiction on Tuesday with “Orbital,” a short, wonder-filled novel set aboard the International Space Station that ponders the beauty and fragility of the Earth. Harvey was awarded the 50,000-pound ($64,000) prize for what she has called a “space pastoral” about …
your ad hereJazz saxophonist Donaldson dies at 98
new york — Lou Donaldson, a celebrated jazz saxophonist with a warm, fluid style who performed with everyone from Thelonius Monk to George Benson and was sampled by Nas, De La Soul and other hip-hop artists, has died. He was 98. Donaldson died Saturday, according to a statement on his website. …
your ad hereLocals move to protect Chile’s giant desert geoglyphs scarred by off-roaders
IQUIQUE, Chile — Over a thousand years ago, the hundreds of giant geoglyphs carved into the desert in northern Chile were a bustling scene. They marked sources of water in the vast arid landscape and were where locals came together to trade skins, animals and fish. Now the carvings are scarred …
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