An estimated 1 million people will pack New York City’s Times Square to watch the huge, brilliantly lighted, crystal ball drop to signal the start of the new year. It is an American New Year’s tradition that goes back more … Continue reading →

Young women looking to play the world’s most-popular sport have a place all their own in Libya. An all-girls soccer academy in the capital looks to break societal norms in the Muslim majority country that frown upon women wearing shorts … Continue reading →

A group of journalists will usher in the New Year Monday in New York City’s Times Square as the time-honored tradition of the annual ball drop recognizes journalism and free speech. Leading American reporters and editors will be on stage … Continue reading →

Activists urging more states to ban gay conversion therapy for minors are expecting major gains in 2019, thanks to midterm election results and the buzz generated by two well-reviewed films.    Fourteen states and the District of Columbia have already … Continue reading →

Norman Gimbel, an Oscar- and Grammy-winning lyricist, has died at the age of 91. The prolific songwriter is perhaps best known for writing the lyrics of “Killing Me Softly With His Song” and the English lyrics for “The Girl From … Continue reading →

British divers who rescued young soccer players trapped in a flooded cave in Thailand are among those being recognized in Britain’s New Year’s Honors List, along with 1960s model Twiggy and Monty Python star Michael Palin. Twiggy, a model who … Continue reading →

Renowned Israeli writer Amos Oz, a passionate peace advocate whose stirring memoir A Tale of Love and Darkness became a worldwide bestseller, died Friday at age 79, his daughter said. Fania Oz-Salzberger said on Twitter that her father had died … Continue reading →

Fifty years after the Woodstock music festival became one of the watersheds of hippie counterculture, an anniversary event will take place in August 2019 on the same field north of New York City. The Bethel Woods Center for the Arts … Continue reading →

Tourists in Philadelphia for the holidays will be able to see the Liberty Bell this weekend despite a partial federal government shutdown that closed many national parks throughout the country. Most of the buildings in the Independence National Historic Park … Continue reading →

The head of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency has asked for President Vladimir Putin’s help in getting Russian officials to hand over key doping data to World Anti-Doping Agency inspectors. WADA reinstated the suspended RUSADA in September on the condition Russian … Continue reading →

Preparations for New Year’s Eve in Times Square are taking shape, and some of those shapes are 192 new crystal triangles on the famous ball. The new Waterford crystal triangles will join about 2,500 others Thursday on the big, sparkling … Continue reading →

She showed up in Paris wearing a black catsuit, a reminder that nobody can command the Grand Slam stage quite like Serena Williams. She reached the finals at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, proving again how well she can play … Continue reading →

Two dozen large-screen TVs showing football and other sports line the walls. There’s beer on tap, bar top seating and leather chairs. Chicken wings are on the menu. And at this American Indian casino in the heart of college-football mad … Continue reading →

The Museum of Black Civilizations in Senegal opened this month amid a global conversation about the ownership and legacy of African art. The West African nation’s culture minister isn’t shy: He wants the thousands of pieces of cherished heritage taken … Continue reading →

The 81-year-old author is often called a dean of Chicano literature. The illustrator is a younger muralist steeped in the visual traditions of Mexican-American pop culture and low-rider cars.    Together, novelist Rudolfo Anaya and painter Moises Salcedo — who … Continue reading →

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II wove personal reflections into her annual Christmas message, offering the customary wishes for peace and saying she hoped she had attained a measure of wisdom during her 92 years. “Some cultures believe a long life brings … Continue reading →

 A stray bullet crushed Iraly Yanez’s aspirations of becoming a professional dancer eight years ago as it ruptured two of her vertebrae and left her paraplegic. But now the young Venezuelan dancer is pursuing her lifelong passion in a wheelchair … Continue reading →

U.S. actor Kevin Spacey is facing a felony charge for allegedly sexually assaulting the teenage at a Nantucket, Massachusetts, restaurant more than two years ago. The Oscar-winning actor is set to be arraigned on a charge of indecent assault and … Continue reading →

As Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg recovers from surgery on Friday for early stage lung cancer, two new films are paying tribute to her life and many accomplishments. VOA’s Penelope Poulou reports how the senior justice of Court’s liberal … Continue reading →

As Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg recovers from surgery on Friday for early stage lung cancer, two new films are paying tribute to her life and many accomplishments. VOA’s Penelope Poulou reports how the senior justice of Court’s liberal … Continue reading →

You don’t often get a second chance to make a first impression, unless, of course, you’re one of the world’s most popular dinosaurs. “It’s a different profile, a much more impressive profile in many ways, a pretty scary large animal, … Continue reading →