Hong Kong’s booksellers and publishers, long known as champions of freedom of expression in the Chinese territory, are now under greater threat following the new National Security Law enacted in July.Now, booksellers could run afoul of laws that carry strict punishments for vague offenses such as “separating the country” and “subverting state power.”Hillway Press, an independent publishing house in Hong Kong, has been mainly publishing online novels and textbooks. After last year’s anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill movement, it began publishing books on social issues. The publisher said authorities are looking for an excuse to publicly punish someone as an example to others.”The printing house has received the information that politicians are looking for publishers of political books to kill the chickens to scare the monkeys,” said a Hillway Press executive who requested anonymity and is referred to as Mr. C.He said the chilling effect had appeared long before the adoption of the national security law. The company’s latest publication, “To Freedom,” which included articles about the anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill movement, was rejected by six printing houses.Bookseller Lam Wing-kee waves to supporters outside his Causeway Bay Books bookstore before taking part in a protest march in Hong Kong, June 18, …

Kobe Bryant. Rep. John Lewis. And now, Chadwick Boseman.So far, 2020 has been marred with bad news and tragedy with the deaths of several popular Black icons including Bryant, Lewis and recently Boseman, who died Friday. All three were viewed as leaders in their respective fields of sports, politics and film — places where people, particularly in the Black community, have often looked for inspiration during a year of racial tension and protests against the police brutality of unarmed Black people.But for many, the loss of another major figure such as Boseman is taking a toll. The actor, who starred in the blockbuster superhero Marvel film “Black Panther,” shockingly died at the age of 43 in his home in Los Angeles after he privately battled colon cancer for four years.The Rev. Al Sharpton arrives to speak at the “Get Your Knee Off Our Necks March,” in Washington, Aug. 28, 2020, on the 57th anniversary of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have A Dream” speech.”These are pillars in our community,” Rev. Al Sharpton said. “In times of instability, you depend on pillars. It’s bad enough when there’s a storm outside and you hear the lightning and thunder. It gets …

Lady Gaga cleaned house at the 2020 MTV Video Music Awards, while The Weeknd took home the top prize — and both pop stars sent important messages to viewers about the current state of the world: “Wear a mask” and “Justice for Jacob Blake and Breonna Taylor.” Gaga won five honors Sunday, most of them for her No. 1 hit with Ariana Grande, “Rain on Me,” which the pop stars performed live for the first time. “Wear a mask. It’s a sign of respect,” Gaga said during one of her several appearances onstage as she accepted awards like artist of the year, song of the year and the MTV Tricon award. With an electronic mask, Gaga performed a medley of her songs, including “Stupid Love,” “Chromatica II” and “911.” She and Grande were joined by a number of background dancers all wearing masks. The Weeknd, the first performer of the night, paid tribute to Blake and Taylor — two Black people who were shot by police officers — after winning video of the year and best R&B for “Blinding Lights.” “It’s really hard for me to celebrate right now and enjoy this moment, so I’m just going to say: justice for Jacob Blake and justice …

The 2020 Tango World Cup, an annual event held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, was held virtually this year because of the coronavirus pandemic.For the champions of the stage category Valentín Arias Delgado and his dance partner, Diana Franco Durango of Colombia, training was a challenge because of COVID-19 restrictions.”For us it didn’t matter that it was virtual, but it was the world cup organized by the city of Buenos Aires so it was super important and worthy of respect,” he said. “Of course, we had to change a little our way of preparing because we had spent five months without dancing together due to the worldwide pandemic, but when we started training, we did it full speed.”Louise Junqueira Malucelli and Marcos Esteban Roberts of Argentina won the salon category.Instead of competing at the Luna Park stadium in Buenos Aires, where the event has been held each year since 2002, competitors were required to send a video of their dances to the organizers.Among the finalist were couples from Argentina, Colombia, the United States, Russia, Italy and Norway.More than 91,000 people from the general public voted online to crown the champs. …

The job losses in Kenya that resulted from the COVID-19 lockdown have also hurt Kenyan artists, who are trying to find different ways to promote their craft and make a living.  Some are using their art to spread health messages about the coronavirus, as Lenny Ruvaga reports from Nairobi. …

It starts with a boat ride in, and for the lucky few, ends with a kiss on the side of the trophy.The Venice Film Festival is an early stop for many stars and filmmakers on the path to the Academy Awards. In normal years, George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Scarlett Johansson, Lady Gaga and more actors would converge on Lido to the snap of camera shutters and cheers from fans.This, of course, is not a normal year. The photographers will be fewer in numbers and the fans will be gone. Many top actors are staying away too, leaving the Venice festival as a smaller, more European cinema gathering.Even that is an achievement.Italy was among the countries hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic — it has Europe’s second-highest confirmed coronavirus death toll after Britain with over 35,400 deaths. The festival, running Sept. 2-12, will serve as a celebration of its re-opening and a sign that the film world, largely on pause since March, is coming back as well.Despite virus precautions, some Venice mainstays will continue. Water taxis will deliver stars to press conferences and photo calls, where in years past actors like Ralph Fiennes have been compelled to dance and Johnny Depp …

The legendary Tour de France began Saturday, two months later than usual, and a day after France recorded its sharpest single-day coronavirus caseload since late March.The crowds, usually packing the start of the Tour de France, are absent this year. Just 100 spectators were allowed for the early afternoon kickoff at the Promenade des Anglais in Nice —where masks are now required for all outdoor spaces.  That’s just a taste of how the virus this year is upending the 3,500-kilometer race, which crosses mountains, vineyards and villages of France. Team riders will be tested regularly for COVID-19 — and wear masks when not competing.  Spectators take pictures of the pack during the first stage of the Tour de France cycling race in France, Aug. 29, 2020.The big question is whether the Tour will end as planned three weeks from now at the Champs Elyees in Paris, or be forced to cut off early.  There are other reasons why the world’s greatest bike race is very different this year.  Sixty-nine-year-old Francois Juillard, former head coach for the French track and field team, remembers following the Tour when he was young. The caravan came first, then the riders—who made difficult climbs seem …

Chadwick Boseman, the star of the ground-breaking superhero movie “Black Panther,” has died from colon cancer, his publicist told AFP on Friday.Boseman, who was in his 40s, had not publicly discussed his condition — which was first diagnosed in 2016 — and continued to work on major Hollywood films.”It was the honor of his career to bring King T’Challa to life in Black Panther,” said a statement posted to Boseman’s social media accounts.”He died in his home, with his wife and family by his side.”Boseman became the first black superhero to get his own standalone film in the record-breaking Marvel franchise with 2018’s “Black Panther.”The movie, set in the fictional African kingdom of Wakanda, was adored by critics and audiences, becoming the first comic book film to be nominated for best picture at the Oscars and grossing over $1 billion worldwide.Earlier in his career, Boseman played black icons Jackie Robinson in “42” and James Brown in “Get on Up.”He recently appeared in Spike Lee’s “Da 5 Bloods” and was set to appear in a sequel to “Black Panther” due in 2022.”A true fighter, Chadwick persevered through it all” and filmed projects “during and between countless surgeries and chemotherapy,” the family’s …

The National Basketball Association playoffs are set to resume Saturday after players reached a deal with the league that includes increased access to voting in the U.S. presidential election.The deal follows a player-led protest sparked by the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man in Kenosha, Wisconsin. NBA games were postponed beginning Wednesday as players protested what they see as police violence and injustice against Blacks.In addition to the NBA games, several Major League Baseball contests, Major League Soccer matches, Women’s National Basketball Association games and National Hockey League playoff games also were postponed.Additionally, play was halted at the Western and Southern Open tennis tournament in New York, while a number of National Football League teams refused to hold practices Thursday.Social justice coalitionNBA players and league officials reached their agreement to resume games following a Thursday meeting.The deal includes a plan to set up a social justice coalition, made up of players, coaches and owners, which would focus on a range of issues, including voting access and advocating for police and criminal justice reform.Under the terms of the agreement, team owners who control their arena property will work with local officials to allow their buildings to be used for …

Two films explore the cycle of violence, trauma and incarceration in the Black community of post Hurricane Katrina New Orleans. VOA’s Penelope Poulou spoke with filmmakers and community organizers of the documentary “Freedia Got a Gun” and of the drama feature “RZA’s Cutthroat City.” They chronicle causes of systemic violence in the Big Easy which was devastated 15 years ago by a Category 5 hurricane. …

Players from the National Basketball Association’s Milwaukee Bucks opted not to play in a playoff game scheduled for Wednesday night in order to call attention to injustices against the African American community and call for lawmakers and law enforcement to institute meaningful changes.The decision had wide-ranging reverberations throughout the country, and by the end of the night the other two scheduled NBA games were postponed, as were all three Women’s National Basketball Association games, three Major League Baseball games and five Major League Soccer Games as players expressed the importance of protesting injustice over playing games.  Tennis player Naomi Osaka also announced she would not play her Thursday semifinal match at the Western & Southern Open, and officials later postponed all tournament play for Thursday.The Milwaukee Bucks’ action came in direct response to events in the city of Kenosha, about 60 kilometers away, where on Sunday police shot Jacob Blake, a Black man, as well as ongoing frustrations about the history of police brutality and racial inequality in the United States.“The past four months we’ve witnessed multiple injustices regarding the African American community,” the players said in a statement.  “Citizens around the country have used their voices and platforms to speak out against these wrongdoings.  Over the last …

All three NBA playoff games scheduled for Wednesday have been postponed, with players around the league choosing to boycott in their strongest statement yet against racial injustice.Called off: Games between Milwaukee and Orlando, Houston and Oklahoma City, and the Los Angeles Lakers and Portland. The NBA said all three games would be rescheduled, yet did not say when.The dramatic series of moves began when the Bucks — the NBA’s team from Wisconsin, a state rocked in recent days by the shooting by police officers of Jacob Blake, a Black man — didn’t take the floor for their playoff game against the Magic. The teams were set to begin Game 5 of their series shortly after 4 p.m., with the Bucks needing a win to advance to the second round.Players had been discussing boycotting games in the bubble after the shooting of Blake by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin. More discussions among players on teams still in the bubble were scheduled Wednesday, presumably on how — or whether — to go forward, but even before that the Bucks apparently decided they would act.”Some things are bigger than basketball,” Bucks senior vice president Alex Lasry tweeted. “The stand taken today by the players …

A group of athletes led by NBA star LeBron James will roll out a multimillion-dollar program in the next few weeks to recruit poll workers in heavily Black electoral districts for November’s election, a person familiar with the plans said on Monday.   More Than a Vote, a group of prominent athletes fighting voter suppression, will collaborate with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund on the program in a dozen states, including battlegrounds such as Georgia, Michigan, Florida and Wisconsin, where disenfranchisement affects Black voters, the source said.    The New York Times first reported the effort, which will recruit young people as poll workers and include a paid advertising program and corporate partnership to encourage employees to volunteer as poll workers.    A shortage of poll workers to staff in-person voting sites amid worries about the coronavirus pandemic has led to dramatically fewer polling locations in some states that held primaries earlier this year, including Georgia and Wisconsin. That led to long lines, hours-long waits and widespread confusion, particularly in hard-hit African-American communities that felt the brunt of the cutbacks.    The problems, and worries about what they could mean for the Nov. 3 election between Republican President Donald Trump …

World-record sprinter and eight-time Olympic gold medalist Usain Bolt is self-quarantining at home in Jamaica, after testing positive for the coronavirus following a party celebrating his 34th birthday attended by several sports stars. Jamaica’s health ministry confirmed late Monday that Bolt tested positive, after he posted a video on social media earlier Monday saying he was waiting for the results.  Bolt, who took the test Saturday after his party said, he did not have any symptoms of the coronavirus, but he urged anyone who came in contact with him to quarantine just to be safe. Bolt has received well wishes and some have accused him of being careless in the midst of a pandemic. Bolt is part of the uptick in infections in Jamaica that officials blame on the reopening of international borders as well as recent celebrations marking Independence Day and Emancipation Day. Officials also say people are ignoring measures to keep themselves and others safe, including wearing masks and social distancing.  Jamaica has confirmed more than 1,600 infections and at least 16 deaths. “I’m having no symptoms so I am going to quarantine myself and wait on the confirmation, to see what is the protocol and how I should go about quarantining myself,” Bolt added. “Until then, I am saying anyone who has had contact with me should quarantine by themselves just to …

Rapper and music producer Kanye West’s campaign ran into trouble Tuesday on his first day of trying to get on the presidential ballot in his home state of Wyoming. People gathering signatures on behalf of West and another presidential candidate got too close to polling locations during the state’s primary, election officials said. The signature-gatherers for West and candidate Brock Pierce refused to keep at least 100 yards (91 meters) away, prompting election workers to call police and sheriff’s deputies at five of the seven polling locations in and around Cheyenne, Laramie County Clerk Debra Lee said. “Some of them became quite aggressive and refused to leave,” said Lee. Election officials at Laramie County Community College confiscated a handwritten sign that read “registered voters sign here” on one side and “Kanye West” on the other, potentially causing people to falsely believe they needed to sign West’s petition in order to vote, Lee said. A man standing outside a polling place in Cheyenne said he worked for Pierce’s national campaign and was gathering signatures for both candidates. He declined to provide his full name. He said he was 100 yards away from the polling place entrance but he actually appeared to …

Nearly two decades after the slaying of Run-DMC star Jam Master Jay, federal prosecutors said Monday they have solved one of New York City’s most enduring mysteries, charging two men from his neighborhood with murder and suggesting that the hip-hop artist — celebrated for his anti-drug stance — was ambushed over a cocaine deal. The suspects were identified in court papers as Ronald Washington, 56, who is currently serving a federal prison sentence stemming from a string of robberies while on the run from police after Jay’s 2002 death, and Karl Jordan Jr., 36, who is also charged with engaging in a cocaine distribution conspiracy in 2017. Jason “Jay” Mizell, known professionally as Jam Master Jay, formed Run-DMC with Joseph “Run” Simmons and Darryl “DMC” McDaniel in the early 1980s. Together, they helped take hip-hop mainstream with hits like “It’s Tricky” and the Aerosmith remake collaboration “Walk This Way.” Jay’s death, following the long unsolved slayings of rappers Tupac Shakur in Las Vegas in 1996 and Christopher “Biggie Smalls” Wallace in Los Angeles in 1997, shook the hip-hop world. Chuck D of Public Enemy compared his death to that of John Lennon. More than $60,000 in rewards was offered, but …

Apple Music is launching several new radio shows hosted by A-list musical acts, including Snoop Dogg, Shania Twain and Carrie Underwood. The streaming service announced that it will debut two new radio stations Tuesday: Apple Music Hits, focused on popular songs of the ’80s, ’90s and 2000s, as well as Apple Music Country, dedicated to the country music genre. Both channels will have daily on-air hosts but will also include several shows hosted by well-known musicians. Apple Music Hits will include shows hosted by Snoop Dogg, Twain, Alanis Morissette, Backstreet Boys, Meghan Trainor, Ciara, blink-182’s Mark Hoppus and Huey Lewis. More than a dozen country acts will debut shows on Apple Music Country, including Underwood, Luke Combs, Florida Georgia Line, Luke Bryan, Rissi Palmer, Morgan Wallen, Kelsea Ballerini, Breland, Dierks Bentley, Jimmie Allen and “This Is Us” actress and singer Chrissy Metz. Apple Music also announced Tuesday that its popular Beats 1 radio station — featuring shows hosted by Billie Eilish, Elton John and Lil Wayne — will be renamed to Apple Music 1. It will launch new shows hosted by Nile Rodgers, J Balvin, Young M.A and other acts. …

Federal prosecutors urged a judge Monday to accept deals that call for “Full House” actor Lori Loughlin to spend two months in prison and her fashion designer husband, Mossimo Giannulli, to serve five months for paying half a million dollars to bribe their daughters’ way into college. Ahead of the famous couple’s scheduled sentencing hearings Friday, prosecutors said in court filings that the proposed prison terms are comparable to the sentences other prominent parents charged in the case have received, while accounting for Loughlin and Giannulli’s “repeated and deliberate conduct” and their “decision to allow their children to become complicit in crime.”  Prosecutors called Giannulli “the more active participant in the scheme,” while they said Loughlin “took a less active role, but was nonetheless fully complicit.” The famous couple pleaded guilty in May to paying $500,000 to get their two daughters into the University of Southern California as crew recruits even though neither girl was a rower. The defense had insisted for more than a year that they believed their payments were legitimate donations and accused prosecutors of hiding crucial evidence that could prove the couple’s innocence because it would undermine their case. The judge said at their plea hearings that he would decide …

The only Black designer belonging to Italy’s influential fashion council is demanding a “long overdue cultural reform” from her colleagues under the slogan: Do Black Lives Matter in Italy? The conversation has gotten off to a rocky start. Stella Jean, a Haitian-Italian designer born and raised in Rome, launched her appeal this summer. She asked the Italian National Fashion Chamber and the global powerhouses steering it, including Prada, Ferragamo and Zegna, to back their social media pledges supporting the Black Lives Matter movement  with concrete, transparent commitments toward greater racial diversity. In response, Jean received a letter from the council president saying that addressing racial disparity within Italian fashion was not within the body’s area of responsibility, despite the fact that members had backed a diversity manifesto in December. According to the letter, such initiatives “pertain instead to parliament, the government or any other bodies.” Exasperated, Jean has decided not to preview a runway collection at Milan Fashion Week until “they demonstrate awareness of the problem.” ”When you talk with them, they have no bad intentions, I know them. But they say something like ‘What are you talking about, Stella? We have never heard about racism in Italy. It is …

Beyonce’s musical film, “Black is King,” is gaining global fans and critics for its portrayal of African culture.  In South Africa, where several scenes in the 85-minute feature were filmed, many say it’s more than just a movie.  VOA’s Anita Powell reports from Johannesburg. …

“Black is King” stunned Beyonce fans when it dropped suddenly last month.  The visual album, which was filmed last year in the U.S., South Africa, West Africa and Europe, is based on music from her album “The Lion King: The Gift” and features an array of African artists, musicians and dancers. Like all Beyonce products, this album has its detractors. Some accuse the Houston native of cultural appropriation for using African aesthetics.But in South Africa, where she filmed many of the scenes, those involved in the production were rapturous. Sibusiso Mathebula worked on some Johannesburg-based scenes as part of his film studies. He spoke to VOA via Google Hangouts from his hometown, Middelburg. “I’m really really honored to have become part of the crew that put together this film. I really love the film,” he said. ” It went into a lot of things that we haven’t been told in our in our schools about Black history. When I saw the film, that’s when I started to see that the stories and the attires and the outfits that she was putting and that whole scene, really represented something deeper than what people were expecting.”Reaction is coming slowly from the continent because the film’s distributor, Disney Plus, is …

Michael Cohen, U.S. President Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer and fixer, on Thursday promised to show how Trump cheated in the 2016 election with Russian help in an upcoming book titled “Disloyal, A Memoir.”   “Trump had cheated in the election, with Russian connivance, as you will discover in these pages, because doing anything — and I mean anything — to ‘win’ has always been his business model and way of life,” Cohen writes in the book’s foreword, which was published online on Thursday.   The 3,700-word foreword does not reveal anything new about Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election, and it was not clear if the book would.   Former Special Counsel Robert Mueller last year concluded that Russia waged a major campaign to help Trump to victory in 2016.   Mueller did not find evidence of a criminal conspiracy between Trump’s campaign and Russia, but he did detail extensive contacts between the campaign and Russian operatives.   Cohen worked closely with Trump for years before turning against him, most publicly in testimony to Congress last year prior to Trump’s impeachment.   Cohen said he knows where Trump’s metaphorical “skeletons” are buried because he buried them.   White …

AMC Entertainment Holdings announced Thursday it is set to reopen many of its movie theaters starting August 20. Its first phase of reopening will include more than 100 of its locations. AMC is the largest movie theater chain in the U.S., and to mark the reopening, it will be selling tickets for 15 cents on opening day, marketing the sale as “movies in 2020 at 1920 prices.”   AMC says it intends to continue opening more locations throughout the month, with plans to have two-thirds open by the September 3 release of the new Christopher Nolan film “Tenet.”   The company will ensure a variety of new safety precautions in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. All guests will be required to wear masks, theater capacity will be decreased, and ventilation systems will be updated.   Tickets will be available at reduced prices even after opening day, including films such as “Inception,” “Black Panther,” “Back to the Future,” and “The Empire Strikes Back,” all of which will be $5. AMC plans to show several older films because the release of most new movies was delayed due to the coronavirus.   “We are thrilled to once again open our doors to American …

The novel coronavirus pandemic continues to have an effect on the sporting world, as two major U.S. college athletic conferences announced Tuesday they are postponing their upcoming fall (gridiron) football seasons. Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren said after consulting with the conference’s medical advisory board “it became abundantly clear that there was too much uncertainty regarding potential medical risks to allow our student-athletes to compete this fall.”  Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott said the presidents and chancellors of all of the member schools agreed their individual programs “are a part of broader campuses in communities where in many cases the prevalence of COVID-19 is significant.”   The Big Ten includes such legendary collegiate football programs as Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State, while the Pac-12 conference, based primarily in the western United States, includes such traditional powerhouses as Stanford, the University of Southern California (USC) and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).  In addition to football, the Big Ten says it is postponing all of its fall sports activities, including men and women’s track and field and American-style soccer. The Pac-12 said it will not hold any sports competitions for the remainder of 2020. The two conferences, along with the Atlantic Coast, Southeastern and Big 12, make up …