Country-turned-pop star Taylor Swift is coming back to her roots with a performance at this year’s Academy of Country Music Awards.The nine-time ACM award winner will perform from the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville, Tennessee, where the awards show will be broadcast Wednesday on CBS.Swift will perform “Betty” from her new album “Folklore,” which has held the top spot for six weeks on the Billboard 200 Albums chart. The song, which is being played on country radio stations, has reached No. 6 on Billboard’s Hot Country song chart.This marks the first time in seven years that the two-time ACM entertainer of the year has performed at this awards show and will be her world premiere performance for any song from her “Folklore” album.Other performers scheduled for the show include Miranda Lambert, Eric Church, Luke Bryan, Maren Morris, Blake Shelton with Gwen Stefani, Carrie Underwood and Dan + Shay. …

The Los Angeles Lakers are going to the conference finals for the first time in a decade, ending the longest drought in franchise history. LeBron James is going there for the first time since 2018. For him, that also qualifies as ending a drought.   James scored 29 points and the Lakers wrapped up their first trip to the Western Conference finals since 2010 by topping the Houston Rockets 119-96 on Saturday night in Game 5 at Walt Disney World.   “It’s the reason I wanted to be a part of this franchise, to take them back to a place that they were accustomed to being — and that’s competing for a championship,” James said. “It’s an honor for me to wear the purple and gold, and for us, we just try to continue the legacy.”   Kyle Kuzma scored 17 points, Markieff Morris had 16, Danny Green added 14 and Anthony Davis finished with 13 for the top-seeded Lakers. They will play either the second-seeded Los Angeles Clippers or third-seeded Denver Nuggets for the West title in a series that won’t begin before Wednesday.   James is going to the conference finals for the 11th time overall — six with Cleveland, four with Miami and now with the …

After one errant forehand in the first set of the U.S. Open final, Naomi Osaka looked at her coach in the mostly empty Arthur Ashe Stadium stands with palms up, as if to say, “What the heck is happening?”  Surprisingly off-kilter in the early going Saturday, Osaka kept missing shots and digging herself a deficit. But suddenly, she lifted her game, and Victoria Azarenka couldn’t sustain her start. By the end, Osaka had pulled away to a 1-6, 6-3, 6-3 comeback victory for her second U.S. Open championship and third Grand Slam title overall.”I just thought this would be very embarrassing, to lose this in less than an hour,” said Osaka, who dropped down to lie on the court after winning.A quarter-century had passed since the last time the woman who lost the first set of a U.S. Open final wound up winning: In 1994, Arantxa Sanchez Vicario did it against Steffi Graf.No fun”I actually don’t want to play you in more finals,” a smiling Osaka told Azarenka afterward. “I didn’t enjoy that.”Osaka, a 22-year-old born in Japan and now based in the United States, added to her trophies from the 2018 U.S. Open — earned with a brilliant performance …

Chloe Zhao’s “Nomadland,” a recession-era road trip drama starring Frances McDormand, won the Golden Lion for best film Saturday at a slimmed-down Venice Film Festival, which was held against the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic.Zhao and McDormand appeared by video from the United States to accept the award, given virus-related travel restrictions made reaching the Lido in the Italian lagoon city difficult if not impossible for many Hollywood filmmakers and actors.”Thank you so much for letting us come to your festival in this weird, weird world and way!” McDormand told the masked audience as the Italian marketing team for the film actually accepted the award. “But we’re really glad you let us come! And we’ll see you down the road!”A favorite going into the awards season, “Nomadland” is screening at all the major fall film festivals in a pandemic-forged alliance involving the Venice, Toronto, New York and Telluride festivals.Britain’s Vanessa Kirby won best lead actress for “Pieces of a Woman,” a harrowing drama about the emotional fallout on a couple after their baby dies during a home birth. Italy’s Pierfrancesco Fabino won best lead actor for “Padrenostro,” (“Our Father”), an Italian coming-of-age story that takes place after a terrorist attack …

For years, U.S. businesses have been trying to get a piece of the Chinese market, and that’s also true for Hollywood. However, as Disney is currently experiencing, doing business with China’s authoritarian government can be tricky, especially in light of current political tensions between the U.S. and China. VOA’s Elizabeth Lee has the details. …

Diana Rigg, a commanding British actress whose career stretched from iconic 1960s spy series “The Avengers” to fantasy juggernaut “Game of Thrones,” has died. She was 82. Rigg’s agent, Simon Beresford, said she died Thursday morning at home with her family. Daughter Rachael Stirling said she died of cancer that was diagnosed in March. Rigg “spent her last months joyfully reflecting on her extraordinary life, full of love, laughter and a deep pride in her profession. I will miss her beyond words,” Stirling said. Rigg starred in “The Avengers” as secret agent Emma Peel alongside Patrick Macnee’s bowler-hatted John Steed. The pair were an impeccably dressed duo who fought villains and traded quips in a show whose mix of adventure and humor was enduringly influential. FILE – Actor George Lazenby, the new James Bond, and British actress Diana Rigg share a moment during takes of “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service,” at Schilthorn near Muerren, Switzerland, Jan. 10, 1969.Rigg also starred in the 1969 James Bond thriller “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” as Tracy di Vicenzo, the only woman ever to marry, albeit briefly, Agent 007. Bond producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli said Rigg was “much beloved by Bond fans for her memorable …

American football, the most popular sport in the United States, kicks off its season tonight, but instead of the usual holiday-like atmosphere surrounding opening day, the event is clouded by concerns over the coronavirus and controversial protests for racial justice.The National Football League’s (NFL) opening matchup features the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs playing the Houston Texans, but don’t expect the contest to resemble a normal game.For one, the stands will appear fairly empty. Tonight’s game will be played at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, which has a capacity of more than 76,000, but the team is only going to allow 22% capacity.Fans will be required to wear masks and maintain social distancing, according to the Chiefs’ website.Sorry, fansMany teams around the league will not be allowing any fans in the stadiums, at least for now.Fans will not be the only ones missing. Reportedly, some 60 players in the league have said they are opting out of games for now, citing virus-related health concerns.Players and team staff are tested daily, with game day being an exception as their eligibility to play will be announced the day before. The NFL said that during the week of September 5, 44,510 tests had …

Diana Rigg, a British actress who became a 1960s style icon as secret agent Emma Peel in TV series “The Avengers,” has died. She was 82. Rigg’s agent Simon Beresford said she died Thursday morning at home with her family. Daughter Rachael Stirling said she died of cancer that was diagnosed in March. Rigg “spent her last months joyfully reflecting on her extraordinary life, full of love, laughter and a deep pride in her profession. I will miss her beyond words,” Stirling said. Rigg starred in “The Avengers” alongside Patrick McNee’s bowler-hatted John Steed. The pair were an impeccably dressed duo who fought villains and traded quips in a show whose mix of adventure and humor was enduringly influential. Rigg also starred in 1967 James Bond thriller “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” as the only woman ever to marry Agent 007. In later life, she played Olenna Tyrell in “Game of Thrones” and the Duchess of Buccleuch in “Victoria,” and starred alongside her daughter in British sitcom “Detectorists.” Rigg spent several years in the 1960s as a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, and combined screen work with an acclaimed stage career, in plays including Bertolt Brecht’s “Mother Courage” and …

NYC has always attracted creative people – those who are happy to wait tables in the evening as long as it pays the bills, only to run to auditions and have time for their art during the day. But the coronavirus pandemic has forced over a thousand Big Apple restaurants to close, and that means no jobs for the NYC bohemia. Anna Nelson looked into how New York’s art scene has been adapting to the new reality. Anna Rice narrates her story. …

Ronald “Khalis” Bell, a co-founder of the legendary group Kool and the Gang, died Wednesday at his home in the U.S Virgin Islands. He was 68 years old.Bell’s publicist did not disclose his cause of death.Bell sang and composed songs for the Grammy-winning group, which blended jazz, funk, R&B and pop.Kool and the Gang’s heyday during the ‘70s led a loyal following behind the group’s biggest hits written by Bell, including “Celebration,” “Jungle Boogie” and “Summer Madness.”Bell is credited with orchestrating the group’s decades-old popularity that was punctuated with a star for Kool and the Gang being placed on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.  …

South African nature filmmaker Craig Foster was burned out. He had lost his passion for working on documentaries such as “Blue Planet 2.” To re-energize, he started free diving without an oxygen tank or wet suit near in the chilly waters off the Western Cape, where he’d grown up.The dives served as a form of therapy, comforting yet challenging the depths of his understanding of marine life. He remembered seeing indigenous San bushmen ply their tracking skills in southern Africa’s Central Kalahari Desert 20 years earlier.“These extraordinary men were just so close to nature and they were just so good at tracking and understanding the natural system,” Foster says. “I was deeply envious of their abilities. … And then I had this idea: Could I ever track animals underwater?”Over four years of diving every day, he learned how. It was a “very exciting, empowering process,” Foster says, “and that enabled me to get into the secret world of some of these special animals.”One tangible result is “My Octopus Teacher,” the first South African nature documentary to air as a Netflix Original. Released in early September on the pay channel, it tells the tender story of Foster befriending a small octopus …

The organization that honors movies with the Academy Awards said Tuesday it will require films to meet new standards in order to promote diversity both on the screen and behind the scenes. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences said the rules apply only to those films eligible for the best picture Oscar and will go into effect in 2024. Among the rules are requirements for the percentage or numbers of actors, production and marketing staff, and internships on a movie that must be filled by non-whites, women, people with disabilities or people from the LGBTQ community. “The standards are designed to encourage equitable representation on and off screen in order to better reflect the diversity of the movie-going audience,” the Academy said in a statement. The Academy has faced criticism in recent years for a lack of diversity among its Oscars honorees, including in 2016 when all of the nominees in the four acting categories were white.   …

Prince Harry has repaid 2.4 million pounds ($3.2 million) in British taxpayers’ money that was used to renovate the home in Windsor intended for him and his wife Meghan before they gave up royal duties and moved to California.A spokesman for the couple said Monday that Harry had made a contribution to the Sovereign Grant, the public money that goes to the royal family. He said the contribution “fully covered the necessary renovation costs of Frogmore Cottage,” near Queen Elizabeth II’s Windsor Castle home, west of London.He said Frogmore Cottage will remain the home of Harry and Meghan, also known as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, when they visit the U.K.Royal accounts for 2019 show that 2.4 million pounds was spent renovating the house, including structural work, rewiring and new flooring. Harry and Meghan agreed to pay back the money and start paying rent as part of the plans drawn up when they quit as senior working royals in March.They recently bought a house in Santa Barbara, California, and last week announced a deal with Netflix to produce a range of films and series for the streaming service.   …

Jiri Menzel, a Czech director whose 1966 movie Closely Watched Trains won the Academy Award for the best foreign language film has died. He was 82.Menzel’s wife, Olga, announced his death late Sunday, saying he died the previous day. No details were given. Three years ago, Menzel underwent a brain operation and was kept in an artificially induced coma for several weeks after it.”Dearest Jirka, I thank you for each and every day I could spend with you. Each was extraordinary,” his wife said on Facebook.Menzel made some 20 movies and was one of the leading filmmakers of the new wave of Czechoslovak cinema that appeared in the 1960s. His movies represented a radical departure from socialist realism, a typical communist-era genre focusing on realistically depicting the struggles of the working class.Unlike colleagues such as Milos Forman, Jan Nemec and Ivan Passer, Menzel didn’t emigrate after the 1968 Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia.Closely Watched Trains was his first feature movie. Based on a novel by Czech author Bohumil Hrabal, it tells the story of a dispatcher’s apprentice coming of age at a small train station during the Nazi occupation in World War II.His next collaboration with Hrabal, Larks on a String …

In a litmus test for American moviegoing in the pandemic, Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet” brought in an estimated $20.2 million through the holiday weekend in U.S. and Canadian theaters. The result could be greeted as either the rejuvenation of U.S. cinemas — more Americans went to the movies this weekend than they have in nearly six months — or a reflection of drastically lowered standards for Hollywood’s top blockbusters given the circumstances. About 70% of U.S. movie theaters are currently open; those in the country’s top markets, Los Angeles and New York, remain closed. Theaters that are operating are limiting audiences to a maximum of 50% capacity to distance moviegoers from one another. “Tenet” played in 2,810 North American locations, about three-fourths of what most major releases typically launch in. Warner Bros. declined to split up U.S. and Canadian box office receipts. Theaters in Canada, where COVID-19 cases are much lower than in the U.S., began showing “Tenet” a week earlier. The film debuted stateside with nightly preview screenings Monday through Wednesday before the official opening on Thursday. Warner Bros. included all of the above in its estimated gross Sunday, along with expected returns for Monday’s Labor Day. “Tenet” opened stronger …

Hall of Famer Lou Brock, who became baseball’s premier base stealer as he helped make the St. Louis Cardinals one of the sport’s dominant teams of the 1960s, died on Sunday at the age of 81. “Our hearts are broken,” the Cardinals said in a tweet. “Lou Brock was an amazing player and outstanding person.” Brock, who was born in Arkansas in 1939 and grew up in Louisiana, was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985 in his first year of eligibility. Hitting, defense and speed on the bases made Brock one of the most notable and popular players of the Cardinals, a team with a rich baseball history. He stole 118 bases in 1974, a single-season major league record until Rickey Henderson of the Oakland Athletics stole 130 in 1982. In 1977, Brock broke the legendary Ty Cobb’s mark for most steals in a career, a record that had stood for 49 years. That record was also eventually broken by Henderson in 1991. Brock led the National League in steals eight times and is still its career stolen-bases leader. He retired at age 40 in 1979 after 19 seasons, 16-1/2 of them with the Cardinals. With Brock as leadoff hitter and left …

Marriage.  In these socially distanced times, even the ceremony itself can’t always bring couples – and their families – together.  In Africa, some digitally savvy couples are finding virtual workarounds to get them to the altar, including weddings where the bride and groom are thousands of kilometers apart.  VOA’s Anita Powell spoke to one African couple who solidified their bond while in two different countries, and brings us this story of love, longing and celebration from Johannesburg.VIDEOGRAPHER: Zaheer Cassim …

Authentic held off a late challenge by favorite Tiz the Law to win the Kentucky Derby on Saturday at Churchill Downs and give Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert a sixth win in the annual Run for the Roses.Authentic, ridden by John Velazquez, set the early pace and managed to maintain his speed down the stretch in the 1¼-mile classic, which was held without spectators because of the COVID-19 crisis.Belmont Stakes winner Tiz the Law was second, long shot Mr. Big News was third and Honor A.P. was fourth in the 15-horse race. …

Chadwick Boseman was remembered as a hometown hero who brought a sense of pride to his native Anderson, South Carolina.The city paid tribute to Boseman in a public memorial on Thursday evening. The actor, who became widely popular through “Black Panther,” was honored after he died last week at the age of 43 following a private four-year battle with colon cancer.A viewing of “Black Panther” was held at an outdoor amphitheater where people practiced social distancing. Most attendees wore masks, while others — mostly kids — dressed up in Black Panther costumes.Some artwork of Boseman was displayed onstage during the tribute.A man watches the movie “Black Panther” during a Chadwick Boseman tribute in Anderson, S.C., Sept. 3, 2020.”He is the epitome of Black excellence,” said Deanna Brown-Thomas, the daughter of legendary singer James Brown and president of her father’s family foundation. She remembered when Boseman visited her family in Augusta, Georgia, before the actor portrayed her father in the 2014 film “Get on Up.”Boseman was a playwright who acted and directed in theater before playing the Marvel Comics character King T’Challa in “Black Panther,” which became one of the top-grossing films in history. He also wowed audiences in his portrayal …

Two stars at the Venice Film Festival, Cate Blanchett and Tilda Swinton, have praised the decision by the Berlin festival to award gender-neutral prizes, with Swinton predicting other award ceremonies will follow suit. Organizers of the Berlin International Film Festival announced last month that they would stop awarding separate acting prizes to men and women starting next year. The best actor and actress Silver Bear prizes will now be replaced by best leading performance and best supporting performance awards. Swinton, who received a Golden Lion Lifetime Achievement award at the Venice festival’s opening ceremony, said divisions by gender were a “waste of life.” “And so I’m really happy to hear that about Berlin,” she told reporters Thursday. “And I think it’s pretty much inevitable that everybody will follow, because it’s just obvious to me.” Blanchett, president of the Venice jury this year, said she instinctively calls herself an “actor.” She said it’s hard enough “to sit in judgment of other people’s work” and then even harder to break it down further along gender lines. “I’m of a generation where the word “actress” was used always in a pejorative sense. So I think I claim the other space,” she said. “I …

More than a dozen “60 Minutes” interviews with former President Barack Obama, beginning when he was a U.S. Senator, have been compiled into an audio release. Simon & Schuster Audio announced Thursday that “Barack Obama: The 60 Minutes Interviews” will come out Oct. 13. The audiobook features CBS News journalist Steve Kroft, who first met with Obama in January 2007 and spoke with him throughout his presidency, culminating in a discussion shortly before Obama left office in 2017. “Over the span of just a few years, Barack Obama evolved from inexperienced freshman senator into one of the most powerful people in the world,” Kroft said in a statement. “This audiobook collection allows listeners to hear that remarkable transformation in Obama’s own voice and words, as it is unfolding.” The audiobook also includes joint interviews with Obama and his wife, Michelle, and former Vice President Joe Biden and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. …

A law firm with ties to prominent Democrats has filed a lawsuit attempting to keep rapper Kanye West off presidential ballots in Virginia. Attorneys for Perkins Coie filed a lawsuit in Richmond on Tuesday on behalf of two people who say they were tricked into signing an “Elector Oath” backing West’s candidacy. Under state law, a candidate must have 13 electors pledge their support for a candidate as part of the criteria to appear on the ballot. The lawsuit alleges that 11 of West’s 13 electors may be invalid and asks the court to block West’s name from appearing on ballots, which are set to be printed soon. Virginia will begin mailing absentee ballots later this month. Lawyers for the West campaign did not immediately respond to requests for comment. West supported President Donald Trump for reelection until announcing his own presidential bid in July. Democrats claim Republicans are pushing West’s candidacy in swing states to siphon Black votes from Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden. …

International rights groups and officials of the Tibetan government in exile say Chinese President Xi Jinping’s latest calls to “Sinicize” Tibetan Buddhism are a threat to Tibetan identity and culture.   FILE – Chinese President Xi Jinping attends the closing session of the National People’s Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, May 28, 2020.Xi’s comments came at a recent senior Communist Party meeting on Tibet’s future governance, where the president said Beijing must build an “impregnable fortress” to maintain stability in Tibetan areas in Sichuan, Yunnan, Gansu and Qinghai provinces, which have strong Tibetan ties. He also called for enhancing China’s national security by educating the masses in the struggle against “splittism,” or deviating from the party’s official policies.   China has long viewed Tibetan Buddhism as a source of “separatist power,” which Beijing has targeted with “reeducational patriotism” campaigns that force Tibetan monks to denounce Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.   FILE – Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama greets devotees as he arrives to give a religious talk at the Tibetan Children’s Village School in Dharmsala, India, May 27, 2015.In the past decade or so, the Communist Party of China (CCP) officials have been posted in …

Masks, sanitizers, and the most shocking of all – no crowds. After almost six months of closure and strict lockdown, New York City museums are finally reopening. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, MoMA and Whitney Museum – among others – are welcoming visitors again, but with a few COVID-related restrictions in place. Nina Vishneva has the story, narrated by Anna Rice. …