Tours and Travels. Travel is the movement of people between distant geographical locations. Travel can be done by foot, bicycle, automobile, train, boat, bus, airplane, ship or other means, with or without luggage, and can be one way or round trip
LONDON — A new exhibition looking at the evolution of Barbie opens in London this week as the famed Mattel doll celebrates her 65th birthday this year. “Barbie: The Exhibition,” running at the Design Museum from July 5 to February 23, features more than 250 items from the Barbie universe, including an array of dolls showing …
Read more “London exhibit looks at Barbie’s design evolution over 65 years”
Lausanne, Switzerland — In the battle against drug use at the Paris Olympics, the International Testing Agency plans to deploy a more streamlined, high-tech approach to identify and target potential cheats. In an interview with Agence France-Presse, Benjamin Cohen, director general of the ITA, said potential tools at its disposal included biological and performance passports as …
Read more “Anti-doping agency sharpens its tools for Paris Olympics”
KATHMANDU, Nepal — The highest camp on the world’s tallest mountain is littered with garbage that is going to take years to clean up, according to a Sherpa who led a team that worked to clear trash and dig up dead bodies frozen for years near Mount Everest’s peak. The Nepal government-funded team of soldiers and …
Read more “Mount Everest’s highest camp is littered with frozen garbage”
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July 20 marks the 55th anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing on the moon. An interactive exhibit at Manhattan’s Intrepid Museum reminds viewers of the enormity of that undertaking and what went into the first moon landing. Evgeny Maslov has the story, narrated by Anna Rice. Videographer: Vladimir Badikov. …
Phnom Penh — Buddhist monks in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh chanted blessings and threw flowers on Thursday to welcome 14 trafficked artifacts repatriated from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The Angkorian artworks, which included a 10th century goddess sandstone statute and a large Buddha head from the 7th century, were stolen by …
As Ukraine’s war against Russia’s invasion drags on, Ukrainians are fighting to preserve their history. They say Russia is deliberately attacking cultural monuments in a bid to erase the country’s history and identity as a separate nation. For VOA, Anna Chernikova reports from Kyiv. VOA footage by Eugene Shynkar, Vladyslav Smilianets. …
NEW YORK — In the winter of 1789, around the time George Washington was elected the country’s first president, a Boston-based printer quietly launched another American institution. William Hill Brown’s The Power of Sympathy, published anonymously by Isaiah Thomas & Company, is widely cited as something momentous: the first American novel. Around 100 pages long, Brown’s …
Read more “What was the ‘first American novel’? On this Independence Day, a look at what it started”
NEW YORK — Robert Towne, the Oscar-winning screenplay writer of “Shampoo,” “The Last Detail” and other acclaimed films whose work on “Chinatown” became a model of the art form and helped define the jaded allure of his native Los Angeles, has died. He was 89. Towne died Monday surrounded by family at his home in Los …
Read more “Robert Towne, Oscar-winning writer of ‘Chinatown,’ dies at 89”
Panama’s pollera is the country’s beautiful, elaborate and very expensive national dress, and one of the most recognized Latin American traditional costumes. But production of the gorgeous garment faces an uncertain future. Oscar Sulbarán explains why in this story narrated by Veronica Villafañe. (Camera: Oscar Sulbarán; Produced by: Veronica Villafañe) …
Washington, D.C., home to the world’s largest collection of William Shakespeare’s works, has unveiled a treasure trove that most have never seen. The Folger Shakespeare Library reopened its doors after a four-year long renovation, revealing the most valuable part of its collection to the public for the first time. Maxim Adams visited the library. …
New York — The monthlong celebration of LGBTQ+ Pride reached its exuberant grand finale on Sunday, bringing rainbow-laden revelers to the streets for marquee parades in New York, Chicago, San Francisco and elsewhere across the globe. The wide-ranging festivities functioned as both jubilant parties and political protests, as participants recognize the community’s gains while also calling …
Read more “LGBTQ+ Pride Month culminates with parades in New York, San Francisco and beyond”
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TOKYO — The Paris Olympics open next month and the agency that oversees doping enforcement is under scrutiny following allegations it failed to pursue positive tests of Chinese swimmers who subsequently won medals — including three gold — at the Tokyo Games in 2021. The focus on the World Anti-Doping Agency and China’s swimmers raises questions …
Read more “Want to follow swimming in Paris? Then get up to speed on WADA, doping and China”
NEW YORK — The monthlong celebration of LGBTQ+ Pride reaches its exuberant grand finale on Sunday, bringing rainbow-laden revelers to the streets for marquee parades in New York, Chicago, San Francisco and elsewhere across the globe. The wide-ranging festivities will function as both jubilant parties and political protests, as participants recognize the community’s gains while also …
Read more “Parties, protests mark the end of Pride month in US and beyond”
SAN FRANCISCO — In an increasingly divisive political sphere, Becka Robbins focuses on what she knows best — books. Operating out of a tiny room in Fabulosa Books in San Francisco’s Castro District, one of the oldest gay neighborhoods in the United States, Robbins uses donations from customers to ship boxes of books across the country …
Read more “San Francisco store is shipping LGBTQ+ books to places where they are banned”
taipei, taiwan — Taiwanese singer and activist Panai called Saturday — at one of the most prestigious entertainment events in the Chinese-speaking world — for people not to forget China’s bloody 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy protesters at Tiananmen Square. Chinese artists in recent years have largely stayed away from Taiwan’s Golden Melody Awards given renewed tension …
Read more “Taiwan singer urges awards audience to remember Tiananmen”
WELLINGTON, New Zealand — When Ngarauru Mako told her family she was calling off Christmas festivities in favor of celebrating Matariki, the Māori new year holiday that’s experiencing a renaissance in New Zealand, her children didn’t believe her. “We grew up with Christmas because it was just what you did, but I realized it wasn’t my …
Read more “New Indigenous holiday comes of age in New Zealand”
NEW YORK — It’s not just a book. Back in the 1450s, when the Bible became the first major work printed in Europe with moveable metal type, Johannes Gutenberg was a man with a plan. The German inventor decided to make the most of his new technology — the movable-type printing press — by producing an …
Read more “What is a Gutenberg Bible? And why is it relevant 500 years after its printing?”
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PROVIDENCE, Guyana — India thumped defending champion England by 68 runs to reach the final of the Twenty20 World Cup on Thursday. India will face South Africa on Saturday at Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados in a battle of the two unbeaten teams of the tournament. Captain Rohit Sharma’s (57) second half-century helped India compile 171-7 …
Read more “India thumps England by 68 runs, will face South Africa in T20 World Cup final”
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Cambodian rapper VannDa was featured at a California festival of Asian music and culture called Sabaidee Fest. VOA’s Malis Tum and Chetra Chap report on this young rapper who’s shining a spotlight on Cambodian music, culture and history. Chetra Chap narrates. …
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