NEW YORK — After a tumultuous movie year marred by strikes and work stoppages, the Academy Awards showered nominations Tuesday on Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster biopic, “Oppenheimer,” which came away with a leading 13 nominations. Nolan’s three-hour opus, viewed as the best picture frontrunner, received nods for best picture; Nolan’s direction; acting nominations for Cillian Murphy, Robert…

Being the preferred choice of footwear for many, flip-flops — typically made of plastic or rubber — break easily and don’t get disposed of properly. Millions of them, therefore, end up in oceans, waterways, dumpsites and landfills all over the world. A Kenya-based company has found creative and functional ways to reuse them. VOA Nairobi…

NEW YORK — Norman Jewison, the acclaimed and versatile Canadian-born director whose Hollywood films ranged from Doris Day comedies and “Moonstruck” to social dramas such as the Oscar-winning “In the Heat of the Night,” has died at age 97.  Jewison, a three-time Oscar nominee who in 1999 received an Academy Award for lifetime achievement, died “peacefully”…

New York — On a quiet weekend in movie theaters, “Mean Girls” repeated atop the box office with $11.7 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday, while a handful of awards contenders sought to make an impact ahead of Oscar nominations Tuesday. With a dearth of new releases in cinemas, Paramount Pictures’ Tina Fey-scripted…

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SEOUL, South Korea — Video footage released by an organization that works with North Korean defectors shows North Korean authorities publicly sentencing two teenagers to 12 years’ hard labor for watching K-pop. The footage, which shows the two 16-year-olds in Pyongyang convicted of watching South Korean movies and music videos, was released by the South and…

NEW YORK — New York prosecutors on Friday returned two pieces of art they say were stolen by Nazis from a Jewish performer and collector murdered in the Holocaust. The artworks were surrendered by museums in Pittsburgh and Ohio, but prosecutors are still fighting in court to recover third artwork by the same artist, Austrian expressionist…

VALLEJO, Calif. — The ordeal of Denise Huskins, whose kidnapping from her boyfriend’s Northern California home was first dismissed as a hoax by law enforcement, is getting renewed attention as the subject of a new Netflix docuseries, American Nightmare. Here’s a look at the facts of the case, which captivated the country: The kidnapping On March…

AYODHYA, India — The private jet parking lots at airports near the Indian city of Ayodhya are full and the shops have run out of gold-plated idols, as wealthy devotees prepare for the invitation-only opening ceremony of one of Hinduism’s holiest temples. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Asia’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani, are among the…

SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO — A grand jury indicted Alec Baldwin on Friday on an involuntary manslaughter charge in a 2021 fatal shooting during a rehearsal on a movie set in New Mexico, reviving a dormant case against the actor.  Special prosecutors brought the case before a grand jury in the city of Santa Fe in…

Paris — The oldest person ever to win an Oscar, renowned director James Ivory, is still making films at 95, with a documentary about his formative trip to Afghanistan in 1960. Though American, Ivory is best-known for a string of costume dramas about the repressed emotions of Brits, including Remains of the Day and Howard’s End,…

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — The director and producer of a banned Malaysian film that explores the afterlife were charged Wednesday with offending the religious feelings of others in a rare criminal prosecution of filmmakers, slammed by critics as an attack on freedom of expression. Mohamad Khairianwar Jailani, the director and co-scriptwriter of Mentega Terbang, and producer…

In the Western United States, professional bull riders risk serious injury on the back of bulls that can weigh more than 700 kilograms. But eight seconds on a bucking beast can mean thousands of dollars. VOA’s Scott Stearns takes us to the show. …

Russia has placed a Ukrainian singer who won the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest on its wanted list, state news agencies reported Monday. The reports said an Interior Ministry database listed singer Susana Jamaladinova as being sought for violating a criminal law. The independent news site Mediazona, which covers opposition and human rights issues, said Jamaladinova…

Pope Francis’ recent gesture of welcome for transgender Catholics has resonated strongly in a working class, seaside town south of Rome, where a community of trans women has found help and hope through a remarkable relationship with the pontiff forged during the darkest times of the pandemic. Thanks to the local parish priest, these women…

Country singers, romance novelists, video game artists and voice actors are appealing to the U.S. government for relief — as soon as possible — from the threat that artificial intelligence poses to their livelihoods. “Please regulate AI. I’m scared,” wrote a podcaster concerned about his voice being replicated by AI in one of thousands of…

A 23-year-old Taylor Swift fan died at the singer’s Eras Tour concert in Rio de Janeiro Friday night, according to a statement from the show’s organizers in Brazil. Both fans and politicians reacted to the news with outrage. While a cause of death for Ana Clara Benevides Machado has not been announced, fans complained they…

A drawing of a nude Donald Trump. A punching bag sculpture shaped like a woman’s torso. A display of women’s party shoes standing proudly on prayer rugs. All are pieces of contemporary art that have provoked debate and, sometimes, violent reactions.  These pieces and dozens more that were subjected to some sort of censorship have…

India captain Rohit Sharma said Saturday his players understand the pressure of being Indian cricketers and remain “calm and composed” for the World Cup final against five-time champion Australia. The hosts are undefeated in 10 matches and will eye their first global trophy in over a decade in front of around 130,000 fans at the…