NEW DELHI — In the ever-growing Twenty20 cricket landscape, India boasts the richest and most-watched league in the world. Yet all that investment and attention hasn’t translated into international success for India’s national team. Rohit Sharma’s India squad travels to the T20 World Cup in the United States and Caribbean in search of a second title…
Video link spanning New York City to Dublin reopens after temporary shutdown
Judge in Tennessee blocks effort to put Elvis Presley’s former home Graceland up for sale
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A Tennessee judge on Wednesday blocked the auction of Graceland, the former home of Elvis Presley, by a company that claimed his estate failed to repay a loan that used the property as collateral. Shelby County Chancellor JoeDae Jenkins issued a temporary injunction against the proposed auction that had been scheduled for Thursday…
White House chef duo has dished up culinary diplomacy at state dinners for nearly a decade
Washington — A house-cured smoked salmon, red grapefruit, avocado and cucumber starter. Dry-aged rib eye beef in a sesame sabayon sauce. Salted caramel pistachio cake under a layer of matcha ganache. While President Joe Biden and his guest of honor at a White House state dinner chew over foreign policy, the female chef duo of Cris…
‘The Apprentice,’ about a young Donald Trump, premieres in Cannes
CANNES, France — While Donald Trump’s hush money trial entered its sixth week in New York, an origin story for the Republican presidential candidate premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on Monday, unveiling a scathing portrait of the former president in the 1980s. “The Apprentice,” directed by the Iranian Danish filmmaker Ali Abbasi, stars Sebastian Stan…
Cannes film follows Egypt feminists on brink of adulthood
Cannes, France — Filmmakers Nada Riyadh and Ayman El Amir spent so much time following an all-girl theatre troupe in a remote Egyptian village that at one point someone tried to sell them a house. “He thought we were always there so we might as well live there,” Riyadh told AFP after the premiere of their…
California Disneyland character, parade performers vote to join labor union
Anaheim, California — Disneyland performers who help bring Mickey Mouse, Cinderella and other beloved characters to life at the Southern California resort chose to unionize following a three-day vote culminating Saturday. The Actors’ Equity Association labor union said in a statement Saturday that cast members for the parades and characters departments at Disney’s theme parks near…
John Krasinski’s ‘IF’ hits box office nerve with $35 million debut
Young women in Rio favela hope to overcome poverty, to play in ’27 World Cup
RIO DE JANEIRO — A 20-minute drive separates the historic Maracana Stadium from the Complexo do Alemao, the biggest complex of favelas in Rio de Janeiro and one of the most impoverished and violent. One of its residents, 15-year-old football player Kaylane Alves dos Santos, hopes her powerful shots and impressive dribbles will allow her to…
Once a center of Islamic learning, historic Mali city mourns lack of visitors
DJENNE, Mali — Kola Bah used to earn a living as a tour guide in Mali’s historic city of Djenné, once a center of Islamic learning known for the sprawling mud-brick mosque that has been on the UNESCO World Heritage in Danger list since 2016. The Grand Mosque of Djenné — the world’s largest mud-brick building…
Film director Rasoulof fled Iran on foot, newspaper says
London — Film director Mohammad Rasoulof made an “exhausting and extremely dangerous” walk across a mountainous borderland to avoid being jailed in Iran on national security charges, he told The Guardian newspaper. Rasoulof said Monday he had fled Iran after a court sentenced him to eight years in jail, of which five were due to be…
Mexico City taco stand earns Michelin star
MEXICO CITY — Newly minted Michelin-starred chef Arturo Rivera Martínez stood over an insanely hot grill Wednesday at the first Mexican taco stand ever to get a coveted star from the French dining guide and did exactly the same thing he’s been doing for 20 years: searing meat. Though Michelin representatives came by Wednesday to present…
Vatican moves to adapt to hoaxes, Internet
VATICAN CITY — The Vatican on Friday overhauled its process for evaluating alleged visions of the Virgin Mary, weeping statues and other seemingly supernatural phenomena that have marked church history, putting the brakes on making definitive declarations unless the event is obviously fabricated. The Vatican’s doctrine office revised norms first issued in 1978, arguing that they…
US bike shops boomed early in pandemic, now facing bumpy ride
Dabney Coleman, actor who specialized in curmudgeons, dies
new york — Dabney Coleman, the mustachioed character actor who specialized in smarmy villains such asd the chauvinist boss in “9 to 5” and the nasty TV director in “Tootsie,” has died. He was 92. Coleman died Thursday at his home in Santa Monica, his daughter, Quincy Coleman, said in a statement to The Associated Press.…
Annual rich list says Paul McCartney is Britain’s 1st billionaire musician
LONDON — Paul McCartney is a billionaire Beatle. According to figures released Friday, the former member of the Fab Four is the first British musician to be worth 1 billion pounds ($1.27 billion). The annual Sunday Times Rich List calculated that the wealth of the 81-year-old musician and his wife, Nancy Shevell, had grown by 50 million…
World No. 1 PGA golfer arrested outside event
Kosovar’s sculptures transform roof of New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art
Gigantic metal sculptures made by Kosovo-born artist Petrit Halilaj adorn the rooftop of New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art in an ode to a childhood affected by war. Garentina Kraja has the story. Camera: Vladimir Badikov …
Take a stroll through the US president’s backyard
General public gets to visit White House grounds in spring and fall …
Old Hollywood glamour sizzles at National Portrait Gallery exhibit
He captured the most famous faces in 1930s and early ’40s cinema — Garbo, Crawford, Bogart and Gable. Now the work of George Hurrell, one of Hollywood’s greatest portrait photographers, is on display at Washington’s National Portrait Gallery. For VOA News, Cristina Caicedo Smit has the story. Videographer: Hakim Shammo; Video editor: Cristina Caicedo Smit…
Miniature poodle Sage fetches top prize at Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show
NEW YORK — A sprightly miniature poodle named Sage was crowned “Best in Show” on Tuesday at the 148th annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, winning the grand prize in the most prestigious competition among pure-bred canines in the United States. Sage, the finalist representing 21 breeds classified as non-sporting dogs, triumphed over more than 2,500…
Alice Munro, Canadian Nobel Prize-winning author, dies at 92
ottawa — Nobel Prize-winning Canadian writer Alice Munro, whose exquisitely crafted tales of the loves, ambitions and travails of small-town women in her native land made her a globally acclaimed master of the short story, has died at the age of 92, her publisher said on Tuesday. Munro died at her home in Port Hope, Ontario,…
Iranian director Rasoulof urges film world to support colleagues
cannes, france — Film director Mohammad Rasoulof, who has secretly fled Iran for an undisclosed location in Europe, urged the world film community on Tuesday to provide “strong support” to his colleagues. Rasoulof, who was sentenced to jail on national security charges, and whose latest movie will compete at this month’s Cannes film festival, said he…
‘Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’ reigns at the box office with $56.5 million opening
LOS ANGELES — “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” reigned over the weekend box office with a $56.5 million North American opening, according to studio estimates Sunday, giving a needed surge to an uncertain season in theaters. The film from 20th Century Studios and Disney that built on the rebooted “Apes” trilogy of the 2010s…
Cannes film festival set to unfurl against backdrop of wars, protests, potential strikes
‘The Fall Guy’ gives Hollywood muted summer kickoff with $28.5M opening
New York — “The Fall Guy,” the Ryan Gosling-led, action-comedy ode to stunt performers, opened below expectations with $28.5 million, according to studio estimates Sunday, providing a lukewarm start to a summer movie season that’s very much to be determined for Hollywood. The Universal Pictures release opened on a weekend that Marvel has regularly dominated with…
Prada focuses generational transition on Italian artisans
TORGIANO, Italy — The Prada Group is expanding its production footprint in Italy, including dozens of new jobs at its knitwear factory in Umbria, leaning into “Made in Italy” as integral to the brand’s ethos and developing new artisanal talent to ease the luxury group through a generational shift in its workforce. Prada CEO Andrea Guerra,…
Vatican and Rome begin dash to 2025 Jubilee with papal bull, construction
VATICAN CITY — The Vatican crossed a key milestone Thursday in the runup to its 2025 Jubilee with the promulgation of the official decree establishing the Holy Year. It’s a once-every-quarter-century event that is expected to bring some 32 million pilgrims to Rome and has already brought months of headaches to Romans. Pope Francis presided over…