Macho men are in and effeminate male performers are out as Beijing expands its crackdown on China’s entertainment industry, blaming the rise of unmanly men on U.S. influence in Japan. Male celebrities, even top moneymakers, are changing their images seemingly overnight now that China’s National Radio and TV Administration and other government agencies have made…
Interactive Broadway Exhibit Opens in NYC
Showstoppers! – a bright and colorful exhibit of Broadway theatre has opened in New York City. Vladimir Lenski visited the exhibit which displays designs that are always in sight but seldom get the spotlight. Anna Rice narrates his story. …
US Returns Ancient Gilgamesh Dream Tablet to Iraq
An ancient tablet displaying parts of the Epic of Gilgamesh that was stolen from Iraq 30 years ago was returned to that country on Thursday. The handover ceremony took place in Washington. VOA’s Sirwan Kajjo has more in this story. Camera: Mohammed Warmzyar Produced by: Sirwan Kajjo …
Somalia National Theater Reopens for Screening After Three Decades
Somalia’s National Theater in Mogadishu held a landmark event Wednesday night, screening movies for the first time in three decades. The theater was recently renovated and reopened after being destroyed twice – once in Somalia’s civil war, and then again in a 2012 suicide bombing. More than 1,500 people attended the screenings. The two films,…
Washington’s Kennedy Center Marks 50th Anniversary
The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in the U.S. capital began its 50th anniversary season in mid-September with musicians back on stage and spectators in their seats. But some COVID-19 measures remain in place for the new season. Karina Bafradzhian reports. Camera: Sergey Sokolov …
Melvin Van Peebles, Godfather of Black Cinema, Dies at 89
Melvin Van Peebles, the groundbreaking filmmaker, playwright and musician whose work ushered in the “blaxploitation” wave of the 1970s and influenced filmmakers long afterward, has died. He was 89. In a statement, his family said Van Peebles, father of the actor-director Mario Van Peebles, died Tuesday evening at his home in Manhattan. “Dad knew that…
Done With Delays, Academy Movie Museum Rolls Out Red Carpet
The projectors are rolling. The ruby slippers are on. Many an Oscar sits glistening. The shark has been hanging, and waiting, for nearly a year. Nine years after it was announced, four years after its first projected open date, and five months since its last planned launch date, the U.S. film academy’s museum is ready…
6 Tribes Sue Wisconsin to Try to Stop November Wolf Hunt
Six Native American tribes sued Wisconsin on Tuesday to try to stop its planned gray wolf hunt in November, asserting that the hunt violates their treaty rights and endangers an animal they consider sacred. The Chippewa tribes say treaties give them rights to half of the wolf quota in territory they ceded to the United…
Study Confirms Political Influence on Preventing COVID Spread
People who feel strongly connected to their country are more likely to practice social distancing and mask wearing amid the COVID-19 pandemic, according to research that looked at nearly 70 nations worldwide. “In pretty much every country we examined around the world, people who were strongly identified were more willing to make…
Nigerian NGO Marks World Peace Day With Photos of Carnage in Northeast
The Nigerian aid group Center for Civilians in Conflict is marking this year’s U.N. International Day of Peace with a photo exhibit on the conflict in the country’s northeast. The photographs depict some of the millions of civilians caught up in the 12-year conflict started by militant group Boko Haram. The photo exhibit opened Tuesday…
Filmmakers Phil Grabsky and Shoaib Sharifi Chronicle 20 Years in Afghanistan
My Childhood My Country: 20 Years in Afghanistan is the latest documentary by award-winning filmmakers Phil Grabsky and Shoaib Sharifi. Grabsky spoke with VOA’s Penelope Poulou about this 20-year film expose on life in Afghanistan through the eyes of an Afghan youth from his early childhood to today. …
‘Ted Lasso,’ ‘The Crown,’ Win Top Emmy Awards on Streaming Heavy Night
Royal drama “The Crown” and feel good comedy “Ted Lasso” nabbed the top prizes at television’s Emmy awards on Sunday on a night dominated by streaming shows, British talent and rare wins by women. Chess drama “The Queen’s Gambit” was named best limited series and tied with “The Crown” for the most wins overall at 11 apiece. The best drama series…
‘Change the Game’: Supermodel Halima Aden Reinvents Modest Fashion
Halima Aden, the first supermodel to wear a hijab and pose in a burkini, has ripped up her lucrative contracts in an industry she feels lacks “basic human respect” and entered the world of modest fashion design instead. For the Somali-American who was born in a refugee camp in Kenya, it was a matter of…
‘The Crown,’ ‘Ted Lasso,’ Streaming Seek Emmy Awards Glory
The miniature statutes given at the Emmy Awards on Sunday can be an outsized boon to egos, careers and guessing games. Will The Mandalorian bow to The Crown as best drama series? Can the feel-good comedy Ted Lasso charm its way into freshman glory? Will Jean Smart be honored as best comedy actress for Hacks?…
Space Tourists Call Actor Tom Cruise While Orbiting Earth
While orbiting Earth, four space tourists called U.S. actor Tom Cruise to talk about life aboard the spacecraft. Representatives for SpaceX’s first privately chartered flight said the crew members spoke Friday with Cruise, who is hoping to take part in a movie made in space. The Twitter account for the flight mission said, “Maverick, you…
Jane Powell, Hollywood Golden-Age Musicals Star, Dies at 92
Jane Powell, the bright-eyed, operatic-voiced star of Hollywood’s golden age musicals who sang with Howard Keel in “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” and danced with Fred Astaire in “Royal Wedding,” has died. She was 92. Powell died Thursday at her Wilton, Connecticut, home, longtime friend Susan Granger said. Granger said Powell died of natural causes.…
Three Iranian Dissidents to Be Honored by PEN America
Three imprisoned Iranian dissidents will be honored next month at Pen America’s annual gala. The literary and human rights organization announced Thursday that writer-filmmaker Baktash Abtin, novelist-journalist Keyvan Bajan and author-critic Reza Khandan Mahabadi are this year’s recipients of the 2021 PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Award. All three are members of the anti-censorship Iranian Writers…
UNICEF: Nearly 120 Million Students Remain at Home Due to COVID School Closures
The United Nations says 117 million students worldwide are still out of school due to the coronavirus pandemic that began more than a year-and-a half ago. In a statement Thursday, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization said the number of students who have yet to return to the classroom represents about 7.5% of…
A Sportswear Solution
Drawing Across the Generations
Guy Gilchrist says making people happy is his purpose in life. “It’s everything. It’s my heart. My creative engine. Knowing that I have this ability to give you something. You know to give. it’s actually incredibly fulfilling to me.” Everyday Gilchrist draws vivid, colorful cartoons that have been enjoyed by people around the world, cartoons…
China Imposes Local Lockdowns as COVID-19 Cases Surge
China tightened lockdowns and increased orders for mass testing in cities along its coast Wednesday amid the latest surge in COVID-19 cases.Checks have been set up in toll stations around the city of Putian in Fujian province, with a dozen of them closed entirely. The nearby cities of Xiamen and Quanzhou have also restricted travel…
Largest US Colleges Push Student Vaccines With Mandates, Prizes
As a new semester begins amid a resurgence of the coronavirus, 26 of the 50 largest public university campuses in the U.S. are not mandating that students be vaccinated, according to an analysis by The Associated Press.Approaches on enforcement vary widely, even among universities that do have vaccine mandates, with some offering leniency for students…
Olympic Gymnast Maroney Says FBI Betrayed Her after She Reported Sexual Abuse
Olympic gymnast McKayla Maroney on Wednesday told U.S. lawmakers she feels betrayed by FBI agents, after they failed to seriously investigate former USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar, despite her telling them he had sexually abused her. Maroney is one of four athletes, along with Simone Biles, Aly Raisman and Maggie Nichols, who testified to the Senate…
Norm Macdonald, Former ‘Saturday Night Live’ Comic, Dies
Comedian Norm Macdonald, a former “Saturday Night Live” writer and performer who was “Weekend Update” host when former U.S. President Bill Clinton and O.J. Simpson provided comic fodder during the 1990s, has died. Macdonald, who was 61, died Tuesday after having cancer for nine years but kept it private, according to Brillstein Entertainment Partners, his management…
George Wein, Newport Jazz Festival Co-founder, Dies at 95
George Wein, an impresario of 20th century music who helped found the Newport Jazz and Folk festivals and set the template for gatherings everywhere from Woodstock to the south of France, died Monday. Wein, 95, died “peacefully in his sleep” in his New York City apartment, said Carolyn McClair, a family spokesperson. A former jazz club owner…
Billie Eilish, Amanda Gorman, Lil Nas X Dazzle at Met Gala
Billie Eilish went full glam in a huge peach ball gown at the pandemic-delayed Met Gala on Monday night, while fellow host of the evening Amanda Gorman was breathtaking in blue custom Vera Wang with a diamond laurel wreath in her hair.Co-host Timothée Chalamet raced onto Fifth Avenue to take selfies with fans before walking…
On with the Show: Amid Pandemic, Broadway Prepares to Reopen
Broadway will welcome back musical lovers and playgoers this fall as theaters in New York City reopen at 100% capacity despite an ongoing threat of the spread of COVID-19. Tina Trinh reports.Camera: Tina Trinh, Janine Phakdeetham Produced by: Tina Trinh …
Medvedev Ends Djokovic’s Bid for Year Slam at US Open
Novak Djokovic’s bid for the first calendar-year Grand Slam in men’s tennis since 1969 ended one victory short with a 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 loss to Daniil Medvedev in the U.S. Open final on Sunday. Medvedev’s surprisingly lopsided triumph gave him his first major championship and prevented Djokovic from winning what would have been the record…