berlin — Forget SpongeBob SquarePants, Sesame Street and the sourdough starter craze — a depressed German loaf of bread named Bernd das Brot is celebrating his 25th anniversary as the reluctant star of a children’s television program that accidentally became equally popular with adults. A cult classic in Germany, Bernd das Brot (Bernd the Bread) …
ACCRA, GHANA — When Abigail Kwartekaa Quartey decided as a teenager to become a professional boxer – an unusual choice for a young woman in a working-class neighborhood of Ghana’s capital of Accra – her family begged her to stop training. Boxing is the pride of Jamestown, which is based around the fishing industry and also …
Read more “Ghana’s first female world boxing champion smashes barriers”
LONDON — Singer Charli XCX, whose album Brat inspired a cultural phenomenon last summer, was the big winner at the BRIT Awards, Britain’s pop music honors, in London on Saturday, picking up five prizes. Brat, which inspired fans to film themselves dancing to its tracks and whose lime green cover look was adopted by U.S. presidential …
Read more “Singer Charli XCX wins top prizes at BRIT Awards”
NEW YORK — David Johansen, the last surviving member of the glam and protopunk band the New York Dolls who later performed as his campy, pompadoured alter ego, Buster Poindexter, has died. He was 75. Johansen died Friday at his home in New York City, according to Rolling Stone, citing a family spokesperson. It was revealed …
Read more “David Johansen, singer from New York Dolls punk band, dies at 75”
CAIRO — Observant Muslims the world over will soon be united in a ritual of daily fasting from dawn to sunset as the Islamic holy month of Ramadan starts. For Muslims, it’s a time of increased worship, religious reflection, charity and good deeds. Socially, it often brings families and friends together in festive gatherings around meals …
Read more “What is Ramadan and how do Muslims observe the Islamic holy month?”
Academy Award-winning actor Gene Hackman likely died on Feb. 17, the last day there was any activity on his pacemaker, Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza said Friday. “According to the pathologist,” Mendoza said, “that is a very good assumption that was his last day of life,” nine days before investigators found his body. The …
Read more “Gene Hackman likely died Feb. 17, last day of activity on pacemaker, official says”
Authorities are continuing their investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of Academy Award-winning actor Gene Hackman, 95, and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, 64, a classical pianist. The couple were found dead, along with one of their dogs, Wednesday in their home in the southwestern U.S. state of New Mexico. Investigators have retrieved an assortment …
Read more “Investigation into deaths of Gene Hackman, wife continues in New Mexico”
MOSCOW — Soviet chess grandmaster Boris Spassky, who was famously defeated at the height of the Cold War, has died at 88, the Russian Chess Federation announced Thursday. “The tenth world champion Boris Spassky has died at 88,” the Russian Chess Federation said in a statement on its website, calling this a “great loss for the …
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The first of two seasons of Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s masterpiece One Hundred Years of Solitude has hit the screen. Netflix is currently working on the second season of this attempt to bring the author’s sprawling masterpiece to the screen. Veronica Villafane has the story. …
Oscar-winning American actor Gene Hackman and his wife were found dead Wednesday at their home in the southwestern U.S. state of New Mexico. Authorities said they were investigating what caused their deaths but that foul play was not suspected as a factor. Authorities said they went to the home to do a welfare check and …
Read more “Actor Gene Hackman, wife found dead at New Mexico home”
WASHINGTON — The number of Americans who identify as Christian has declined steadily for years, but that drop shows signs of slowing, according to a new survey Wednesday from the Pew Research Center. The Religious Landscape Study finds 62% of U.S. adults call themselves Christians. While a significant dip from 2007, when 78% of Americans identified …
Read more “Survey: Decline in number of US Christians is leveling off”
After devastating wildfires tore through Los Angeles, the 97th Academy Awards are going forward. Like the Grammys and other awards shows this year, the ceremony will be transformed by the fires and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has pledged to help its members and the broader film community recover. Here’s everything you …
Read more “Oscar performers include Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande and Doja Cat”
NEW YORK — Roberta Flack, the Grammy-winning singer and pianist whose intimate vocal and musical style on Killing Me Softly with His Song, The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face and other hits made her one of the top recording artists of the 1970s and an influential performer long after, died Monday. She was 88. …
Read more “Roberta Flack, Grammy-winning singer with an intimate style, dies at 88”
The papal thriller “Conclave” won best ensemble and Timothée Chalamet took best actor at the 31st Screen Actors Guild Awards on Sunday, a pair of twists that added a few final wrinkles to an unusually unpredictable awards season. In winning the guild’s top award, Edward Berger’s Vatican-set drama triumphed just as the Catholic Church was …
Los Angeles — Former Vice President Kamala Harris stepped on the NAACP Image Awards stage Saturday night with a sobering message, calling the civil rights organization a pillar of the Black community and urging people to stay resilient and hold onto their faith during the tenure of President Donald Trump. “While we have no illusions about …
Read more “Kamala Harris receives prestigious Chairman’s prize at NAACP Image Awards”
Linda Facci has a unique and charming job. Using just a few tools and a lot of felt, she makes hyper realistic sculptures that, if they weren’t so small, it would be hard to tell them apart from the real thing. Anna Nelson met up with Facci to talk about her art. Anna Rice narrates …
New York — “Captain America: Brave New World” soared on opening weekend but crashed down in its second go-around with audiences. “Brave New World,” the latest sign that the Marvel machine isn’t quite what it used to be, remained No. 1 at the box office in its second frame with $28.2 million in ticket sales, according …
Read more “‘Captain America’ dives in 2nd weekend, ‘The Monkey’ boosts Neon’s successes “
ROME — Pope Francis, in critical condition with a complicated lung infection, rested well during a peaceful night following a respiratory crisis and blood transfusions, the Vatican said Sunday. Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni’s one-line statement didn’t mention if Francis was up or eating breakfast. “The night passed quietly, the pope rested.” The brief update came after …
Read more “Vatican: Ailing Pope Francis ‘rested during a peaceful night’”
TOKYO — Yoshiko Abe is about to turn 89, but that hasn’t stopped her from going to the gym every day and trying the free-of-charge makeup course at her housing complex. “It was really helpful,” she said, all smiles and glowing after putting on foundation and pink lipstick, something she hadn’t done in years. …
Read more “Beauty market targets young at heart in aging Japan”
NIOKOLO-KOBA NATIONAL PARK, SENEGAL — The morning sun slants through the canopy of Senegal’s Niokolo-Koba National Park as Sgt. Abdou Diouf and his brigade of rangers march in single file, guns at the ready. They scan the brush for signs of poachers, but today, it seems, the only hunters are the lions themselves, their fresh tracks …
Read more “Mystical beliefs fuel Senegal’s illegal big cat trade”
LOS ANGELES — Sean Baker, whose low-budget movie “Anora” is the front-runner for next weekend’s Oscars, delivered an impassioned plea to “keep indie film alive” as he won top prize at the Spirit Awards on Saturday. The annual Film Independent Spirit Awards ceremony, held in a giant tent at Los Angeles’ Santa Monica beach, only celebrates …
Following the news of Jorge Bergoglio’s health, churches across the country are joining in prayer. In this video we visit the most emblematic places in his hometown. Argentine faithful share prayers and reflect on the importance of having an Argentine Pope. Click here for the full story in Spanish. …
new york — Jerry Butler, a premier soul singer of the 1960s and ’70s whose rich, intimate baritone graced such hits as “For Your Precious Love,” “Only the Strong Survive” and “Make It Easy on Yourself,” has died at age 85. Butler’s niece, Yolanda Goff, told the Chicago Sun-Times that Butler — whose show business nickname, “The …
MAYVILLE, NEW YORK — A New Jersey man was convicted Friday of attempted murder for stabbing author Salman Rushdie multiple times on a New York lecture stage in 2022. Jurors, who deliberated for less than two hours, also found Hadi Matar, 27, guilty of assault for wounding a man who was on stage with Rushdie at …
Read more “Suspect found guilty of attempted murder in author Salman Rushdie attack”