When Raquel Welch donned a deerskin bikini for a 1966 caveman screen epic, she became one of the hottest sex symbols of her time, a role she never felt able to escape. The film was mediocre, but the poster for “One Million Years BC” went round the world, taking her with it and making both…

This year’s New York Fashion Week is wrapping up after featuring genderless style, throwback 1990s fashion and colorful knitwear to fight sadness. Nina Vishneva has the story, narrated by Anna Rice. Producer: Anna Rice. Camera: Vladimir Badikov. …

Ethiopia has long struggled with problems of communal friction turning into violent, ethnic conflict. Members of the two largest ethnic groups, the Oromos and Amharas, have come together to showcase traditional conflict resolution through musical drama. Maya Misikir reports from Adama, Ethiopia. Camera: Vinicius Assis. …

A German newspaper critic had animal feces smeared on her face in the city of Hannover by a ballet director who apparently took offense at a review she wrote. The Hannover state opera house apologized for the incident and said Monday that it was immediately suspending ballet director Marco Goecke. The daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung…

Rihanna made her long-awaited return to the stage at the Super Bowl with a career-spanning medley of pop bangers, but it was her baby bump that dominated the conversation.    The megastar appeared in the stadium midair on a floating stage, donning a clingy, all-red ensemble featuring a molded bustier — and a belt below what many…

A court run by Yemen’s Iran-backed rebels on Sunday upheld a five-year sentence against a female actor and one of her companions who were convicted of committing an indecent act and having drugs in her possession, her lawyer said. The arrest of Intisar al-Hammadi and the three other women in February 2021 — as well…

There is no bigger cheerleader of awards season than Richard E. Grant.  He brings joy to the red carpet, snapping selfies with stars and posting congratulations to nominees on social media.  Now this enthusiasm has been tapped to host the EE BAFTA Film Awards on February 19 at the Royal Festival Hall.  “I’m an unabashed…

A halftime show that Rihanna promises will be “jam-packed” will sit at the center of the celebrity supplements to Super Bowl 57.  But the 13-minute mini-extravaganza, her first live event in seven years, is only one part of the entertainment sideshow surrounding Sunday’s big game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs at State…

Visitors to one of Florence’s most iconic monuments — the Baptistry of San Giovanni, opposite the city’s Duomo — are getting a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see its ceiling mosaics up close thanks to an innovative approach to a planned restoration effort. Rather than limit the public’s access during the six-year cleaning of the vault, officials…

As legal sports gambling proliferates, the number of Americans betting on the Super Bowl and the total amount they’re wagering is surging — although most of the action is still off the books.  An estimated 1 in 5 American adults will make some sort of bet, laying out a whopping $16 billion, or twice as…

Australia has nominated a culturally sensitive Aboriginal area that is home to the world’s largest collection of rock art for United Nations heritage protection.  The Burrup Peninsula, 1,500 kilometers north of Perth, the Western Australian state capital, has 50,000 years of First Nations history, including millions of a type of rock carving called petroglyphs.   It…

When Enrique Vera opens the door to his workshop, an array of gleaming gold and silver matadors’ jackets shine in the sun. “It is little bit like a cave full of treasure,” he says. Vera painstakingly fashions the brilliant trajes de luces (suits of lights) which are worn by bullfighters when they face half-ton bulls…

Scientists have a mystery on their hands after the discovery of 330 stone tools about 2.9 million years old at a site in Kenya, along Lake Victoria’s shores, that were used to butcher animals, including hippos, and pound plant material for food. Which of our prehistoric relatives that were walking the African landscape at the…

Nairobi’s public buses and vans, called “matatus,” and their custom graffiti brighten the busy streets of Nairobi. The idea is the glitzier the vehicle’s design, the more customers it will attract. Hubbah Abdi has this report from the Kenyan capital. Narrated by Michele Joseph. (Camera: Joseph Ochieng) …

Burt Bacharach, the singularly gifted and popular composer who delighted millions with the quirky arrangements and unforgettable melodies of “Walk on By,” “Do You Know the Way to San Jose” and dozens of other hits, has died at 94. The Grammy, Oscar and Tony-winning Bacharach died Wednesday at home in Los Angeles of natural causes,…

NASCAR, the American stock car racing company, is celebrating its 75th anniversary and striving to bring diversity to the sport. Genia Dulot visited a preseason NASCAR race in Los Angeles and spoke to Daniel Suarez, the first Mexican-born racing driver to win a NASCAR cup series. Camera: Genia Dulot …

U.S. basketball star LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers became the National Basketball Association’s all-time leading scorer Tuesday.  James hit a two-point basket late in the third quarter in the game against the visiting Oklahoma City Thunder to surpass the 38,387 career points held by Lakers’ legend and Hall-of-Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Abdul-Jabbar, who was…

There are fans for all kinds of things, from sports to birds to stamps. This is true for trains as well. VOA’s Aunshuman Apte reports. …

British author Salman Rushdie said he finds it “very difficult” to write after being stabbed last year, in an interview published Monday ahead of the release of his new novel Victory City. Rushdie, whose “epic tale” of a 14th-century woman who defies a patriarchal world to rule a city hits U.S. shelves Tuesday, said the…

Iran-based singer Shervin Hajipour’s Grammy Award for a song he produced last year in honor of Iran’s peaceful protest movement against Islamist rule has prompted an outpouring of positive reactions from Iranian social media users.  U.S. first lady Jill Biden announced Hajipour’s win of the U.S. Recording Academy’s first-ever Song for Social Change Special Merit…

Centuries-old weavings from the Caucasus, Iran and Turkey show the individual stories and intertwined histories of the region in a museum exhibit in the Western U.S. state of Colorado. VOA Correspondent Scott Stearns has our story. …

The success of the critically acclaimed 2022 film “Everything Everywhere All at Once” has put a spotlight on Asian representation in the U.S. film industry. Now, an American actor of Hmong descent and a Cambodian American filmmaker have made a new movie about the Asian experience in the United States. VOA’s Chetra Chap reports. …

Manchester City was accused by the Premier League on Monday of providing misleading information about its finances over a nine-year period when the club was attempting to establish itself as a force in English and European soccer following its takeover by Abu Dhabi’s ruling family. The explosive development came at the end of a four-year…

An Iranian singer who faces possible prison time for his song that’s become an anthem to the ongoing protests shaking the Islamic Republic wept early Monday after seeing he’d won a Grammy. Shervin Hajipour appeared stunned after hearing Jill Biden, the wife of President Joe Biden, announce he’d won the Grammy’s new song for social…

Beyonce’s four wins were one of many highlights of Sunday’s Grammys, making her the artist with the most Grammys ever. Beyonce, the Queen Bee, can now proudly wear the crown of most decorated artist in Grammy history, breaking the 26-year record held by the late Hungarian-British conductor Georg Solti. However, she was not in the…

Here is a list of winners in key categories for the 65th annual Grammy Awards, which were handed out on Sunday in Los Angeles. Beyonce led the field with a total of nine nominations and scooped up four awards, making her the winningest artist in Grammys history. Harry Styles won the Album of the Year…

For Wilfred Cadet, buying soup on Sunday is the equivalent of going to church.   Seated on plastic chairs next to a street food stand tucked in an alleyway, the 47-year-old Haitian slurps orange-colored soup out of a metal bowl next to his 9-year-old son. Haitians mill past them cradling larger plastic containers, each eager…

  — Best alternative music performance: “Chaise Longue” by Wet Leg — Best alternative music album: “Wet Leg,” Wet Leg — Best rock album: “Patient Number 9,” Ozzy Osbourne — Best rock performance: “Broken Horses” by Brandi Carlile — Best rock song: “Broken Horses” by Brandi Carlile — Best rap performance: “The Heart Part 5,”…