Leaders of a Hollywood actors union voted Thursday to join screenwriters in the first joint strike in more than six decades, shutting down production across the entertainment industry after talks for a new contract with studios and streaming services broke down. It’s the first time two major Hollywood unions have been on strike at the…

A sponsor is giving away 20,000 tickets to Women’s World Cup matches in New Zealand as ticket sales remain sluggish in a country in which rugby dominates as the national sport.  According to FIFA, 1.25 million tickets have been sold for matches across cohosts Australia and New Zealand. Of those 320,000 have been sold to…

HBO dominated Wednesday morning’s Emmy nominations, with the elite trio of “Succession,” “The White Lotus” and “The Last of Us” combining for a whopping 74, but the dominant theme darkening the scene is the ongoing writers strike and the looming possibility that actors may join them in as little as a day. “Succession” and its…

Vietnam’s move to ban the Warner Bros. film “Barbie” from domestic distribution over a scene showing China’s claimed territory in the South China Sea encapsulates an age-old territorial dispute between the two countries, experts said. A nine-dash line encompassing about 90% of the South China Sea has appeared on Chinese maps since the 1950s. More…

The last time Elina Svitolina was a Grand Slam semifinalist — twice, actually, in 2019 — she was pursuing the usual trappings of success in professional sports: trophies, money, fame, etc. Now Svitolina plays for more important reasons. For her daughter, Skaï, who was born in October. For her country, Ukraine, where a war that…

Double Olympic champion runner Caster Semenya won an appeal against track and field’s testosterone rules on Tuesday when the European Court of Human Rights ruled she was discriminated against and there were “serious questions” about the rules’ validity. World Athletics, which enforces the regulations, said in reaction to the decision that its rules would remain…

Red Hot Chili Peppers, Ms. Lauryn Hill and Megan Thee Stallion will headline this year’s Global Citizen Festival as the anti-poverty nonprofit looks to focus attention on increasing inequality for girls and young women around the world. Global Citizen CEO Hugh Evans said the Sept. 23 event at New York’s Central Park will be the…

The Netherlands and Indonesia on Monday hailed the return of hundreds of cultural artifacts taken — sometimes by force — during colonial times as a major step forward in restitution efforts worldwide. The items, ranging from valuable jewels to 13th-century temple carvings, were officially handed back to Indonesia at a ceremony at the Museum Volkenkunde…

Indiana Jones’ reign atop the box office was short-lived. In its second weekend in theaters, the Disney release was usurped by another franchise fifth – ” Insidious: The Red Door.” The horror film starring and directed by Patrick Wilson scared up $32.7 million in ticket sales from 3,188 theaters, according to studio estimates on Sunday.…

STOCKHOLM – Surrounded by emotional fans from around the globe, Elton John hailed them as his “lifeblood” as he gave his final farewell concert in Stockholm after more than 50 years of live performances. “You know how much I like to play live. It’s been my lifeblood to play for you guys, and you’ve been absolutely…

Two very different films are set to come out on July 21. One is about the development of the world’s first nuclear weapons. The other is about Barbie.  Which one has proved to be contentious on the global stage? Surprisingly, it’s not the Oppenheimer biopic.  Instead, the much-anticipated “Barbie” has stoked controversy in both Vietnam…

Apartheid ended in South Africa three decades ago, but Black people still struggle to enter luxury sports like hot air ballooning. Komane Harold Tjiane, 44, is in the process of breaking through that ceiling, training to become the country’s first black hot air balloon pilot. Zaheer Cassim reports from Johannesburg. Camera: Zaheer Cassim …

UNESCO says in the first year of Russia’s war on Ukraine, the cost of the damage to Ukraine’s tourism and culture sectors reached more than $2.5 billion. From Warsaw, Lesia Bakalets reports on efforts to preserve art treasures and exhibit them abroad. Camera: Daniil Batushchak. …

Two environmental activists were arrested at Wimbledon on Wednesday after getting on court and disrupting a match by scattering orange confetti and puzzle pieces on the grass. A woman and a man wearing T-shirts from Just Stop Oil — a protest group that wants the British government to stop new oil, gas and coal projects…

In recent years, there have been more prominent TV shows and movies featuring Asians and Chinese Americans, with many of them targeting younger audiences.   The increase in media showing Asian Americans is more than just a product of the streaming era. For summer camp director C.C. Hsu and her students, it is also a step toward more accurate representations of…

Andy Murray said he had an emotional meeting with Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who spent six years in an Iranian jail cell, after inviting her to watch him from the royal box at Wimbledon on Tuesday. British-Iranian Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Murray became friends after she said in an interview last year that watching the Scot win Wimbledon on…

Founded by a former refugee, Minnesota-based company Epimonía turns material from life jackets worn by refugees into fashion accessories and other items of clothing. VOA’s Kahli Abdu has the story. …

In recent years, TV shows and movies featuring Asians, including Chinese Americans, have been on the rise, with many of them aimed at younger audiences. Students at a Taiwanese School summer camp in Washington share their thoughts on this trend. Elizabeth Lee and Graham Kanwit report. …

WIMBLEDON, ENGLAND — When Victoria Azarenka walked into Court 15 Monday morning for her first Wimbledon match in two years, she was greeted by polite clapping. When the two-time Grand Slam champion from Belarus finished off a three-set victory more than 2½ hours later, Azarenka shook her racket with her right hand and pumped her…

HANOI, July 3 (Reuters) – Vietnam has banned Warner Bros’ highly anticipated film “Barbie” from domestic distribution over a scene featuring a map that shows China’s unilaterally claimed territory in the South China Sea, state media reported on Monday. The U-shaped “nine-dash line” is used on Chinese maps to illustrate its claims over vast areas…

Indiana Jones, and executives at the Walt Disney Co. and Lucasfilm, made a somewhat dispiriting discovery this weekend. Moviegoers didn’t rush to the theater in significant numbers to see “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” and say goodbye to Harrison Ford as the iconic archaeologist.  The film, reportedly budgeted north of $250 million, came…

SYDNEY — China rallied to claim its first women’s basketball Asia Cup title since 2012 as it beat five-time defending champion Japan 73-71 in an epic final on Sunday. Trailing at halftime it appeared China may fall for a third consecutive time in a title game as reigning champion Japan scored the last 14 points…

A Japanese actor, artist and designer has opened a Ukrainian restaurant in Tokyo called Smachnogo. Her one and only goal: to provide jobs to Ukrainian evacuees arriving in Japan after the start of Russia’s invasion. Iuliia Iarmolenko has the story. Camera: Susumu Miyazu, Justyna Feicht. Video editing: Oleksii Osyka, Anna Rice. …

FIFA revealed eight different armbands highlighting social causes that sides will be able to wear at the women’s World Cup as world football’s governing body seeks to avoid a row that erupted at last year’s men’s World Cup. Captains from a number of European countries, including England and Germany, planned to wear a “OneLove” armband…

Alan Arkin, the wry character actor who demonstrated his versatility in everything from farcical comedy to chilling drama as he received four Academy Award nominations and won an Oscar in 2007 for “Little Miss Sunshine,” has died. He was 89. His sons Adam, Matthew and Anthony confirmed their father’s death through the actor’s publicist on…

Hollywood actors may be on the verge of joining screenwriters in what would be the first two-union strike in the industry in more than six decades, with huge consequences for film and television production. Here is a look at how it could play out, and why it’s happening. What’s happening with actors’ negotiations? The contract…

A screenwriters’ strike in Hollywood has been going on for two months,  grinding scripted TV production basically to a halt and costing California millions in losses each day. Angelina Bagdasaryan has more in this story, narrated by Anna Rice. Camera: Vazgen Varzhabetian         …

Members of the U.N.’s cultural agency are gathering Thursday for the start of two days of meetings in Paris that are expected to include a vote to accept the return of the United States to the organization. The United States withdrew in 2018 complaining of anti-Israel bias and mismanagement at the agency. Before leaving, the…