Designers in the Western U.S. state of Colorado are mixing modern fashion with cultural textiles from Iran, Afghanistan, Turkey and Tibet. VOA’s Scott Stearns has our story. …

Since 2008’s “Iron Man,” the Marvel machine has been one of the most unstoppable forces in box-office history. Now, though, that aura of invincibility is showing signs of wear and tear. The superhero factory hit a new low with the …

Millions of Indians celebrated Diwali on Sunday with a new Guinness World Record number of bright earthen oil lamps as concerns about air pollution soared in the South Asian country. Across the country, dazzling multicolored lights decked homes and streets …

“Creole isn’t about a specific skin tone or country, it’s about a culture,” said Mona Lisa Saloy, author of the poetry collection Black Creole Chronicles.    “It’s food, it’s music, it’s architecture, it’s style and it’s traditions,” she told VOA. …

Pope Francis on Saturday forcibly removed from office the bishop of Tyler, Texas, a conservative active on social media who has been a fierce critic of the pontiff and some of his priorities. A one-line statement from the Vatican said …

Board members from Hollywood’s actors union voted Friday to approve the deal with studios that ended their strike after nearly four months, with the union’s leadership touting the gains made in weeks of methodical negotiations. Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, Screen Actors Guild-American …

The Beatles returned to the top of the U.K. music charts Friday with the record-breaking track “Now And Then,” making history as the act with the longest gap between its first and last No. 1 single.  Billed as the last …

An exhibition featuring the work of Simone Leigh — one of America’s most influential contemporary female artists — is now on display at the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington. Leigh, known for her focus on feminism, gender equality and racial justice, became the first Black artist in history to …

One of Pablo Picasso’s masterpieces, Woman with a Watch, was sold at auction Wednesday night for $139.3 million by Sotheby’s in New York, the second-highest price ever achieved for the artist. In a jam-packed room at the venerable auction house, …

The SAG-AFTRA actors’ union reached a tentative agreement with Hollywood studios to resolve the second of two strikes that rocked the entertainment industry as workers demanded higher pay in the streaming TV era, the union said Wednesday. The 118-day strike …

Transsexual people can be godparents at Roman Catholic baptisms, witnesses at religious weddings and receive baptism themselves, the Vatican’s doctrinal office said on Wednesday, responding to questions from a bishop.  The department, known as the Dicastery of the Doctrine of …

The North American box office had one of its slowest weekends of the year, due in large part to “Dune: Part Two’s” absence from the lineup.  Moviegoers had many other options to choose from. The video game adaptation “Five Nights …

More than a dozen U.S. states have enacted or introduced legislation to restrict drag shows. The moves are the product of socially conservative momentum against shows where performers who are mostly men dress mostly as women. Gustavo Martinez Contreras reports …

A diver who spotted something metallic not far from Sardinia’s coast has led to the discovery of tens of thousands of ancient bronze coins. Italy’s culture ministry said Saturday that the diver alerted authorities, who sent divers assigned to an …

Sheryl Crow and Olivia Rodrigo kicked off the 2023 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony Friday night, and Missy Elliott closed the show more than four hours later with a roof-shaking set, as the hall celebrated a strong …

The New York City Marathon women’s record, which has stood for 20 years, could go down Sunday with one of the strongest fields assembled in the history of the race. Reigning champion Sharon Lokedi looks to defend her title against …

A new, permanent addition to the sprawling National WWII Museum in New Orleans is a three-story complex with displays as daunting as a simulated Nazi concentration camp bunk room, and as inspiring as a violin pieced together from scrap wood …

In a city whose slogan is “Keep Austin Weird,” one artwork stands taller than the rest. The backyard “Cathedral of Junk” draws visitors from around the world. Deana Mitchell has our story from the Texas capital. …

The final Beatles recording is here. Titled “Now and Then,” the almost impossible-to-believe track is four minutes and eight seconds of the first and only original Beatles recording of the 21st century. There’s a countdown, then acoustic guitar strumming and …

After an explosion destroyed the Kakhovka Dam in June 2023, the water level dropped in the reservoir above the dam in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region. Since then, archaeologists have found hundreds of valuable artifacts in the newly exposed areas of the site …