NEW YORK — Cher, Mary J. Blige and Ozzy Osbourne were among this year’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees, an elite group formally introduced into the music pantheon Saturday at a star-studded concert gala. Kool & the Gang, Dave Matthews Band, Foreigner, A Tribe Called Quest, and Peter Frampton round out the 2024 class…
6-time Olympic cycling champion Hoy reveals he has terminal cancer
Britain’s six-time Olympic track cycling champion Chris Hoy has revealed he has “two to four years” to live after he was diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer which metastasized to his bones. The announcement comes after the 48-year-old Scot said in February he was feeling “optimistic and positive” as he was undergoing treatment for an unspecified…
Nepal’s Sherpas deserve more, says teen who scaled world’s 14 tallest peaks
KATHMANDU, Nepal — A Nepali teenager, the youngest person ever to scale all 14 of the world’s tallest peaks, says he wants to use his skills to benefit the Himalayan nation’s Sherpa community and turn out world-class athletes. Sherpas, an ethnic group living mainly in the vicinity of the world’s highest peak, Mount Everest, are known…
Acik Radyo falls silent as Turkish media regulator revokes license
ISTANBUL — With a farewell song of “Good Vibrations” by the Beach Boys, a Turkish radio station fell silent this week after nearly 30 years of broadcasts. The final Acik Radyo broadcast on Wednesday came as a court upheld the Turkish media regulator’s order to revoke the Istanbul-based station’s license over the mention of “Armenian genocide”…
Death of ex-One Direction member Liam Payne at 31 shocks fans around the world
Buenos Aires, Argentina — The death of Liam Payne, who shot to stardom as a member of British boy band One Direction and grappled with intense global fame while still in his teens, sent shockwaves across the world Thursday as Argentine investigators continued their investigation at the scene. Fans, music-industry figures and fellow musicians paid tribute…
One Direction singer Liam Payne dead after falling from Buenos Aires hotel balcony
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Former One Direction singer Liam Payne was found dead after the 31-year-old fell from his third-floor room balcony at a hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentine police said on Wednesday. Police said in a statement that they were called to the CasaSur hotel in the capital’s leafy Palermo neighborhood after being notified of…
South African artists, influencers with albinism fight stigma
In South Africa, and elsewhere on the continent, albino people are a target; they face daily discrimination and sometimes even death. But young social media influencers and artists are trying to change the narrative, as Kate Bartlett reports from Johannesburg. Videographer: Zaheer Cassim …
Zimbabwean comedian wows audiences on America’s Got Talent
Zimbabwe doesn’t have a thriving standup comedy scene tradition. But when Learnmore Jonasi was exposed to the art form in his native Zimbabwe, he knew that making people laugh was what he wanted to do. VOA reporter Keith Baptist caught up with him in Harare and has this story. …
‘Terrifier 3’ slashes ‘Joker’ to take No. 1 at box office
In Hiroshima, Nobel Prize brings survivors hope, sense of duty
HIROSHIMA, Japan — Almost eight decades after an atomic bomb devastated her hometown of Hiroshima, Teruko Yahata carries the scar on her forehead from when she was knocked over by the force of the blast. The U.S. bombs that laid waste to Hiroshima on the morning of August 6, 1945, and to Nagasaki three days later,…
Louisiana’s Cajun and Creole heritage will be celebrated at 50th annual festival
new orleans, louisiana — Louisiana’s Cajun and Creole heritage takes center stage this weekend when the Festivals Acadiens et Creoles marks a half-century of honoring and celebrating the culture through music, arts, food and community. What started as a one day concert in 1974 to entertain 150 French-speaking journalists gathered in Lafayette — considered the heart…
Nazi-looted Monet artwork returned to family generations later
NEW ORLEANS — On the eve of World War II, Nazis in Austria seized a pastel by renowned impressionist artist Claude Monet, selling it off and sparking a family’s decadeslong search that culminated Wednesday in New Orleans. At an FBI field office, agents lifted a blue veil covering the Monet pastel and presented Adalbert Parlagi’s granddaughters…
Alexey Navalny wrote he knew he would die in prison in new memoir
new york — Russian dissident Alexey Navalny, who was President Vladimir Putin’s top political opponent before his death in February, believed he would die in prison, according to his posthumous memoir, which will be released October 22. The New Yorker published excerpts from the book Friday, featuring writing from Navalny’s prison diary and earlier. “I will…
Taylor Swift, Hulk Hogan. Can celebrities sway US voters?
From pop superstar Taylor Swift to former wrestler Hulk Hogan, celebrity endorsements have been a feature of this year’s U.S. presidential race. But whether they will have any kind of impact on the election is difficult to predict. VOA’s Veronica Balderas Iglesias reports. …
Japanese organization of atomic bomb survivors wins Nobel Peace Prize
Nobel Prize winner Han Kang’s books fly off the shelves in South Korea
seoul, south korea — South Koreans flocked to bookstores Friday and crashed websites in a frenzy to snap up copies of the work of novelist Han Kang in her home country, after her unexpected win of the 2024 Nobel Prize in Literature. However, the author herself was keeping out of the limelight. The country’s largest bookstore…
Hurricane Milton disrupts Yom Kippur plans for Jews in Florida
WINTER PARK, Florida — Many Jews worldwide will mark Yom Kippur in fasting and prayer at their synagogues this weekend. But for the faithful in Florida, destructive Hurricane Milton has disrupted plans for observing the Day of Atonement — the holiest day of the year in the Jewish faith — that begins Friday evening and caps…
Chinese entries skyrocket at this year’s Taiwan Golden Horse Awards
Taipei, Taiwan — Organizers of Taiwan’s premier film festival report a huge increase this year in entries from China, despite a ban imposed by Beijing six years ago on participation in the festival by Chinese filmmakers and actors. As many as 100 Chinese entries had been submitted for Golden Horse Awards in recent years, in defiance…
DC’s Hirshhorn Museum bustles with bright Brazilian art
The vibrant world of yellow-skinned giants, surreal landscapes and a massive mechanical zoetrope have taken over the Hirshhorn Museum in the largest U.S. showcase of work by Brazilian twin brothers OSGEMEOS. It’s the most comprehensive display of the siblings’ art ever presented in the United States. Maxim Adams has the story. Camera: Sergii Dogotar. …
South Korean author Han Kang wins Nobel literature prize for her ‘intense poetic prose’
Tennis legend Rafael Nadal to retire after next month’s Davis Cup finals
Offline dating, friendship meetups trending in US
While online dating apps are as popular as ever, some singles prefer meeting in person. Karina Bafradzhian has a look at some services that offer face-to-face meetups for people who are looking for friends as often as dates. Camera: Sergii Dogotar …
‘Joker 2’ is box office No.1 despite poor reviews from audiences, critics
Gauff rallies to reach China Open final; Sinner, Alcaraz win in Shanghai
BEIJING — Coco Gauff rallied Saturday from a set down for the third consecutive match as she beat Paula Badosa 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 to advance to the final of the China Open. The sixth-ranked Gauff will play Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic in Sunday’s final as the 20-year-old American bids for her second WTA-1000 level…
Peru celebrates 2 decades of a fast-growing breed of guinea pigs eaten as a delicacy
LIMA, Peru — Peru on Thursday celebrated two decades since the creation of a genetically modified breed of guinea pig, a rodent whose meat has formed a part of the diet of people in the Andean nation for thousands of years. The genetically modified breed of guinea pig — known as cuy locally — is called…
German church is tallest in the world — until Spain’s La Sagrada Familia is done
ULM, Germany — The Ulmer Münster in southern Germany is the world’s tallest church. For now, anyway. The Gothic-style Lutheran church’s reign — begun in May 31, 1890 — could end in 2025, when La Sagrada Familia Basilica’s “Tower of Jesus Christ” in Spain is set to be completed. At an eventual 172.5 meters high, the…
John Amos, patriarch on ‘Good Times’ and Emmy nominee for blockbuster ‘Roots,’ dies at 84
LOS ANGELES — American actor John Amos, who starred as the family patriarch on the hit 1970’s sitcom Good Times and earned an Emmy nomination for his role in the seminal 1977 miniseries Roots, has died. He was 84. Amos’ publicist, Belinda Foster, confirmed the news of his death Tuesday. No other details were immediately available. …
Pete Rose, baseball’s banned hits leader, has died at age 83
NEW YORK — Pete Rose, baseball’s career hits leader and fallen idol who undermined his historic achievements and Hall of Fame dreams by gambling on the game he loved and once embodied, has died. He was 83. Stephanie Wheatley, a spokesperson for Clark County in Nevada, confirmed on behalf of the medical examiner that Rose died…