Film icon Arnold Schwarzenegger told Russians in a video posted on social media Thursday they’re being lied to about the war in Ukraine and accused President Vladimir Putin of sacrificing Russian soldiers’ lives for his own ambitions. Schwarzenegger is hugely popular in Russia, and apparently also with Putin. The President of Russia Twitter account follows…

St. Patrick’s Day celebrations across the country are back after a two-year hiatus, including the nation’s largest in New York City, in a sign of growing hope that the worst of the coronavirus pandemic may be over. The holiday served as a key marker in the outbreak’s progression, with parades celebrating Irish heritage among the…

The Pritzker Prize, architecture’s most prestigious award, was awarded Tuesday to Burkina Faso-born architect Diebedo Francis Kere, the first African to win the honor in its more than 40-year history. Kere, 56, was hailed for his “pioneering” designs that are “sustainable to the earth and its inhabitants — in lands of extreme scarcity,” said Tom…

“The Outfit,” a film noir by Academy Award winning writer Graham Moore, tells a fictional story of an expert tailor who finds himself caught up in a turf war among dangerous gangsters in 1950s Chicago. Moore, who won an Oscar for the film drama “The Imitation Game,” spoke to VOA’s Penelope Poulou about his interest…

Musher Brent Sass won the arduous Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race across Alaska on Tuesday as his team of 11 dogs dashed off the Bering Sea ice through a crowd of fans in downtown Nome. Sass mushed down Front Street and across the finish line just before 6 a.m. “It’s awesome, it’s a dream come…

Clarissa Ward interrupted her live TV report on Ukrainian refugees to help a distraught older man, then a woman, down a steep and explosion-mangled path, gently urging them on in their language. A day later, Lynsey Addario, a photographer for The New York Times, captured a grim image of a Russian mortar attack’s immediate outcome:…

Leon Schwarzbaum, a survivor of the Nazis’ death camp at Auschwitz and a lifelong fighter for justice for the victims of the Holocaust, has died. He was 101. Schwarzbaum died early Monday in Potsdam near Berlin, the International Auschwitz Committee reported on its website. No cause of death was given. “It is with great sadness,…

American actor William Hurt, known for much-loved films such as “The Big Chill” and “A History of Violence,” has died at age 71, US media reported Sunday. Multiple outlets cited Hurt’s son, Will, who said in a statement: “It is with great sadness that the Hurt family mourns the passing of William Hurt, beloved father…

Sci-fi epic “Dune” took four early prizes from a field-leading 11 nominations as the British Academy Film Awards returned Sunday with a live, black-tie ceremony after a pandemic-curtailed event in 2021. Acting nominees Benedict Cumberbatch and Lady Gaga were among the stars walking the red carpet at London’s Royal Albert Hall before a ceremony hosted…

Brent Sass continued to lead the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Sunday, but he must hold off the defending champion as mushers have reached the Bering Sea coast and its treacherous ice. Sass breezed through the checkpoint in the village of Shaktoolik on Sunday morning, staying only eight minutes. The village is 1,213 kilometers…

Jane Campion hailed the shattering of Hollywood’s glass ceiling as her movie “The Power of the Dog” was named the year’s best film by her fellow directors Saturday — a major accolade which historically leads to Oscars glory. Campion won the Directors Guild of America’s top prize for her Netflix adaptation of a Western novel…

Many athletes are already looking forward to the 2026 Winter Olympics to be held in Italy. Asian American athletes are sure to be well represented there, thanks in part to a new athletic alliance designed to get Asian Americans into the Games. VOA’s Jessica Stone reports. Camera: Jessica Stone Produced by: Jessica Stone  Video editor: Keith Lane…

High in the U.S. Rocky Mountains, skiers race through an obstacle course pulled by riders on horseback in a decades-long tradition that is part skiing and part rodeo. VOA correspondent Scott Stearns has our story from Leadville, Colorado. …

Actor Jussie Smollett, onetime star of the TV drama Empire, was sentenced in a Chicago court to 30 months’ probation and 150 days in jail on Thursday for staging a hate crime against himself.  Smollett, 39, was also ordered to pay $120,000 in restitution and fined $25,000 by Cook County Circuit Court Judge James Linn. …

Major League Baseball canceled more games on Wednesday and pushed back Opening Day until April 14 after talks on a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with players stalled again. MLB locked out its players in December after failing to reach terms on a CBA and had canceled the first week of the regular season. “Regrettably,…

U.S. golfing great Tiger Woods will be formally inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame Wednesday night at a ceremony in Florida. Woods’ 14-year-old daughter Sam, who was born the day after he finished second at the 2007 U.S. Open, will formally introduce him at the new headquarters of the PGA Tour in Ponte…

Three sisters from Irbil have won gold and silver medals in weightlifting events in the regional 2021 Arab Weightlifting Championship. While preparing for future weightlifting competitions, the three Kurdish women are inspiring young girls to step into a male dominated field. VOA’s Ahmad Zebari reports from Irbil, narrated by Namo Abdulla. Camera: Ahmed Zebari  Produced…

The Supreme Court said Monday it will not take up the sexual assault case against comedian Bill Cosby, leaving in place a decision by Pennsylvania’s highest court to throw out his conviction and set him free from prison. The high court declined prosecutors’ request to hear the case and reinstate Cosby’s conviction. The Pennsylvania Supreme…

Maggie Gyllenhaal’s “The Lost Daughter,” “Drive My Car” and “Summer of Soul” were among the big winners at the 37th Film Independent Spirit Awards Sunday. The ceremony hosted by Nick Offerman and Megan Mullally was held in a tent by the beach in Santa Monica, broadcast on AMC and IFC. It is the cool, casual…

The 50th running of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race started Sunday with 49 mushers setting their sights on Alaska’s western coast. The race will take the mushers across Alaska’s untamed and unforgiving terrain, including two mountain ranges, the frozen Yukon River and the unpredictable Bering Sea ice. The winner is expected to cross the…

The fledgling Basketball Africa League tipped off its second season in Dakar, Senegal, on March 5, 2022, with a dozen men’s club teams from as many African countries vying for the 2022 BAL championship title. Senegal’s Dakar Université Club and Guinea’s Seydou Legacy Athlétique Club faced off in the season opener. They had their eyes…

Walter R. Mears, who for 45 years fluidly and speedily wrote the news about presidential campaigns for The Associated Press and won a Pulitzer Prize doing it, has died. He was 87. “I could produce a story as fast as I could type,” Mears once acknowledged — and he was a fast typist. He became…

International Women’s Day, celebrated on March 8, aims to focus global attention on the state of women when it comes to gender equality, bias, stereotypes and discrimination.  Its goal is to make the world more diverse, equitable and inclusive for them. VOA’s Laurel Bowman has that story. …

The arts may be a luxury many children of underprivileged families can’t afford, but at the Sitar Arts Center in Washington, D.C., it’s available to all who want to participate. VOA’s Virginia Gunawan reports. Camera – Laurentius Wahyudi. …

With the threat of financial sanctions looming, Chelsea’s Russian owner Roman Abramovich confirmed Wednesday he is trying to sell the Premier League club he turned into an elite trophy-winning machine with his lavish investment. The speed of Abramovich’s pending exit from Chelsea is striking as he was trying to instigate a plan this past weekend…

Kenyan refugee aid group RefuSHE is hosting a virtual international fashion show in East Africa for female refugees. Organizers say the show’s proceeds will go toward helping female refugees fleeing conflict in East and Central Africa. Brenda Mulinya reports from Nairobi, Kenya.  Videographer and producer: Amos Wangwa  …

The invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces has ignited responses from arts and cultural institutions around the world, which are canceling performances by Russian artists, many of whom are supporters of Russian President Vladimir Putin.  The Cannes Film Festival, an invitation-only event that previews top-quality films from more than 80 countries, announced that no Russian…

Major League Baseball has canceled opening day, with Commissioner Rob Manfred announcing Tuesday the sport will lose regular-season games over a labor dispute for the first time in 27 years after acrimonious lockout talks collapsed in the hours before management’s deadline.  Manfred said he is canceling the first two series of the season that was…