When drained of glamour, what’s left of the Golden Globes?That’s one of the biggest questions heading into the 78th annual awards on Sunday night. The show, postponed two months from its usual early-January perch, will have little of what makes the Globes one of the frothiest and glitziest events of the year. Due to the pandemic, there will be no parade of stars down the red carpet outside the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California. Its hosts, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, will be on different sides of the country.More than any award show, the Globes revel in being an intimate banquet of stars. When the show begins at 8 p.m. EST on NBC, with Poehler in Beverly Hills and Fey in New York’s Rainbow Room, the circumstances will test the Globes telecast like never before.Presenters will include Awkwafina, Joaquin Phoenix, Kristen Wiig, Tiffany Haddish, Margot Robbie and Angela Bassett. At least some of them will be present at one of the two locations. Pre-show coverage is still going forward on E! beginning at 4 p.m. EST and on NBC beginning at 7 p.m. EST. The telecast will be streamed on NBC’s website with a television-provider log-in, as well as …

Officials at the Pompeii archaeological site in Italy announced Saturday the discovery of an intact ceremonial chariot, one of several important discoveries made in the same area outside the park near Naples following an investigation into an illegal dig.The chariot, with its iron elements, bronze decorations and mineralized wooden remains, was found in the ruins of a settlement north of Pompeii, beyond the walls of the ancient city, parked in the portico of a stable where the remains of three horses previously were discovered.The Archaeological Park of Pompeii called the chariot “an exceptional discovery” and said “it represents a unique find — which has no parallel in Italy thus far — in an excellent state of preservation.”A detail of the decoration of a chariot that was found in Civita Giuliana, north of Pompeii. Officials at the Pompeii archaeological site near Naples announced its discovery Feb. 27, 2021.The eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD destroyed Pompeii. The chariot was spared when the walls and roof of the structure it was in collapsed, and also survived looting by modern-day antiquities thieves, who had dug tunnels through to the site, grazing but not damaging the four-wheeled cart, according to park officials.The chariot …

A former U.S. Olympics gymnastics coach with ties to disgraced sports doctor Larry Nassar died by suicide Thursday after being charged with two dozen crimes, including forms of human trafficking, Michigan’s attorney general said. The announcement from Attorney General Dana Nessel came about three hours after a news conference where Nessel announced that John Geddert was charged with crimes, including sexual assault, human trafficking and running a criminal enterprise. The charges were the latest fallout from the sexual abuse scandal involving Nassar, a former Michigan State University sports doctor now in prison. Geddert was accused of turning his Michigan gym into a yearslong criminal enterprise by coercing girls to train under him and then verbally and physically abusing them. FILE – Larry Nassar sits during his sentencing hearing in Lansing, Mich., Jan. 24, 2018.He was accused of lying to investigators in 2016 when he denied ever hearing complaints about Nassar, who is serving decades in prison for sexually assaulting female athletes in a scandal that counted hundreds of victims and turned USA Gymnastics upside down. Geddert, 63, was head coach of the 2012 U.S. women’s Olympic gymnastics team, which won a gold medal. He has long been associated with Nassar, who was the Olympic team’s doctor …

Bruce Springsteen was fined $500 Wednesday after the rock ‘n’ roll legend pleaded guilty to a charge of consuming alcohol at a federally run New Jersey beach in November, and prosecutors dropped drunk driving and reckless driving charges.   Springsteen, 71, who has made his home state of New Jersey and its shore scene a staple of his career of more than 50 years, entered his plea in an online arraignment before U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Anthony R. Mautone in Newark.   Appearing on an online hearing, Springsteen admitted to downing two shots of tequila on November 14 at Sandy Hook beach, part of the National Park Service’s Gateway National Recreation Area, where alcohol consumption is prohibited.   Mautone also imposed $40 in court fees on the rock star, who said he would pay the $540 total immediately.   Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam Baker said the government was dropping the driving-while-intoxicated and reckless driving charges because it did not believe it could meet its burden of proving them in court.   Springsteen initially had pleaded not guilty to all three charges. …

Police on Wednesday sought to determine what caused Tiger Woods to swerve off a Southern California road in his sport utility vehicle, colliding with a tree and rolling down a hillside in a crash that left the golf great seriously injured.   Woods, 45, was pried from the wreckage by rescue crews and rushed by ambulance from the scene of the Tuesday morning crash outside Los Angeles to nearby Harbor-UCLA Medical Center suffering what his agent described as “multiple leg injuries.”   A statement posted on Woods’ official Twitter account on Tuesday night said he had undergone a “long surgical procedure” to his lower right leg and ankle and was “awake, responsive and recovering in his hospital room.”  pic.twitter.com/vZitnFV0YA— Tiger Woods (@TigerWoods) February 24, 2021Compound fractures of his tibia and fibula – the two bones of his leg below the knee – were stabilized with a rod, and screws and pins were used to stabilize additional injuries to his foot and ankle, Dr. Anish Mahajan, chief medical officer of Harbor-UCLA, said in the tweet.   Mahajan also said that trauma to the muscle and other soft tissue of the leg “required surgical release of the covering of the muscles to …

Golfer Tiger Woods suffered injuries in a single-car crash early Tuesday in California. Esha Sarai has more.Produced by: Esha Sarai …

Lawrence Ferlinghetti, the poet, publisher, bookseller and activist who helped launch the Beat movement in the 1950s and embody its curious and rebellious spirit well into the 21st century, has died at age 101. Ferlinghetti, a San Francisco institution, died Monday at his home, his son Lorenzo Ferlinghetti said. A month shy of his 102nd birthday, Ferlinghetti died “in his own room,” holding the hands of his son and his son’s girlfriend, “as he took his last breath.” The cause of death was lung disease. Ferlinghetti had received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine last week, his son said Tuesday. Few poets of the past 60 years were so well known, or so influential. His books sold more than 1 million copies worldwide, a fantasy for virtually any of his peers, and he ran one of the world’s most famous and distinctive bookstores, City Lights. Although he never considered himself one of the Beats, he was a patron and soul mate and, for many, a lasting symbol — preaching a nobler and more ecstatic American dream. “Am I the consciousness of a generation or just some old fool sounding off and trying to escape the dominant materialist avaricious consciousness of America?” he …

Professional golfer Tiger Woods was involved in a serious car accident Tuesday, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. The car reportedly rolled over near Ranchos Palos Verdes, California, and Woods had to be extracted from the wreckage. Video footage of the crash scene showed a vehicle on its side in a ditch at the bottom of a hill with a badly damaged front end. Pieces of the car were spotted around the wreckage. FILE – Tiger Woods celebrates after winning the 2019 Masters, at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia, April 14, 2019.Woods, who was taken to Harbor-UCLA Medical Center where he was being treated for “moderate to critical” injuries, was reportedly the only occupant of the car. “Tiger Woods was in a single-car accident this morning in California where he suffered multiple leg injuries,” Woods’s agent, Mark Steinberg, told Golf Digest’s Daniel Rapaport. “He is currently in surgery, and we thank you for your privacy and support.” Woods was undergoing treatment of compound fractures on at least one leg, according to NBC News. The L.A. County Sheriff’s Office said the golfer’s injuries were non-life threatening. The Los Angeles Times reported Woods had been traveling at high speed and lost control of the vehicle, …

Norway’s National Museum says a small, barely visible sentence written with a pencil on Edvard Munch’s 1893 masterpiece “The Scream” was penned by the Norwegian painter himself.The painting, which shows a waif-like figure cradling its head in its hands with its mouth agape, has become a global icon for the expression of human anxiety. The sentence — “can only have been painted by a madman” — was scribbled in the top left-hand corner.The painting is being prepared to be exhibited at the new National Museum of Norway that is set to open in Oslo, the Norwegian capital, in 2022. In this connection, the canvas has undergone research and conservation.”The writing is without a doubt Munch’s own,” Mai Britt Guleng, curator at the National Museum, said in a statement Monday, adding it was compared to the painter’s diaries and letters.”The handwriting itself, as well as events that happened in 1895, when Munch showed the painting in Norway for the first time, all point in the same direction,” Guleng said.The writing on the canvas was added after Munch had completed the painting but for years it has been a mystery, the museum said in a statement. Speculation has ranged from it being …

Grammy-winning electronic music pioneers Daft Punk have announced that they are breaking up after 28 years. The helmet-wearing French duo shared the news Monday in an 8-minute video called “Epilogue.” Kathryn Frazier, the band’s longtime publicist, confirmed the break up for The Associated Press. Daft Punk, comprised of Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, have had major success over the years, winning six Grammy Awards and launching international hits with “One More Time,” “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger” and “Get Lucky.” Bangalter and de Homem-Christo met at a Paris school in 1987. Prior to Daft Punk, they formed an indie rock band named Darling. They officially formed Daft Punk in 1993, and the helmeted, mute and mysterious musicians released their debut album, “Homework,” 1997. They first found success with the international hit “Da Funk,” which topped the Billboard dance charts and earned them their first Grammy nomination. A second No. 1 hit and Grammy nomination followed with “Around the World.” Daft Punk spent time touring around the world and reached greater heights with their sophomore album, 2001’s “Discovery.” It included the infectious smash “One More Time” and “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger,” which Kanye West famously flipped into his own hit “Stronger,” …

Naomi Osaka gave Jennifer Brady a lesson in Grand Slam tennis as she cruised to a 6-4 6-3 win to secure her second Australian Open title Saturday and cement her standing as the new queen of the women’s game.   Osaka’s victory over the 22nd-seeded American at a floodlit Rod Laver Arena gave the Japanese third seed her fourth major crown at the age of 23.   Fans hoping for a repeat of the pair’s engrossing U.S. Open semi-final last year were left disappointed as Brady froze in the spotlight of her first Grand Slam final.   U.S. Open champion Osaka played some way short of her best tennis and joined Brady in contributing to a dour, error-strewn first set.   But she settled to clinch six straight games, roaring to a 4-0 lead in the second before serving out the match to love.   A big serve sealed it, causing Brady to fire a forehand return long, and Osaka held her racket over her head and beamed in an understated celebration.   Osaka, who won the 2019 tournament, offered Brady warm congratulations and thanked the fans at the trophy ceremony.   “When we played in the semis of the …

The 518-year-old Mona Lisa has seen many things in her life on a wall, but rarely this: Almost four months with no Louvre visitors.   As she stares out through bulletproof glass into the silent Salle des Etats, in what was once the world’s most-visited museum, her celebrated smile could almost denote relief.     A bit further on, the white marble Venus de Milo is for once free of her girdle of picture-snapping visitors.   It’s uncertain when the Paris museum will reopen, after being closed on Oct. 30 in line with the French government’s virus containment measures. But those lucky enough to get in benefit from a rare private look at collections covering 9,000 years of human history — with plenty of space to breathe.     That’s normally sorely lacking in a museum that’s blighted by its own success: Before the pandemic, staff walked out complaining they couldn’t handle the overcrowding, with up to 30,000-40,000 visitors a day.   The forced closure has also granted museum officials a golden opportunity to carry out long-overdue refurbishments that were simply not possible with nearly 10 million visitors a year.     Unlike the first lockdown, which brought all Louvre …

Two South African medics are swapping their medical gear for oars as they train for a risky 4,000-kilometer (2,500-mile) journey by rowboat through the Arctic Northwest Passage.If the 14-member team finishes the trip — across the north of Canada to Alaska — they will make history, as all attempts to row the icy waters have failed. “Nobody conquers a passage there,” said Leven Brown, the expedition leader. ”The ocean allows you to pass. And there is a very important distinction there. We will be lucky to get through the Northwest Passage, to row from Pond Inlet at the top right-hand corner of Canada, to the top left-hand corner of Alaska, a place called Point Barrow.”  In decades past, travel through the icy, Arctic waters was only possible by large ships. Physical, mental toll   Reduced summer ice will allow the team to row the passage, but the journey — planned for next year — will still be a physical and mental challenge.   The South African team member, Daniel Lobjoilt, says such a long, confined journey will likely take a toll. “We are going to be out there, in the elements, by ourselves, essentially, and I think after a certain period of time of repetitive rowing, on and off for, you know, weeks on end. Pressure on my mind might be the biggest challenge I have to overcome. So, my fear is … is that encounter that I have to have with myself,” Lobjoilt said.  Gathering dataAlong the journey, Brown says the team will use scientific tools to gather data …

Buckingham Palace confirmed Friday that Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, will not be returning to royal duties, and Harry will give up his honorary military titles — a decision that makes formal, and final, the couple’s split from the royal family.When Harry and Meghan stepped away from full-time royal life in early 2020, it was agreed the situation would be reviewed after a year.Now it has, and the palace said in a statement that the couple, also known as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, have verified “they will not be returning as working members of The Royal Family. “It said Queen Elizabeth II had spoken to Harry and confirmed “that in stepping away from the work of the Royal Family, it is not possible to continue with the responsibilities and duties that come with a life of public service.”The palace said Harry’s appointment as captain general of the Royal Marines and titles with other military groups would revert to the queen before being distributed to other members of the family.Harry, who served in the British army for a decade and has a close bond with the military, founded the Invictus Games competition for wounded troops.”While all are saddened …

Millions of people in the United States are facing frigid, stormy weather, although the number of people without power in the southwestern state of Texas dropped below a half million on Thursday for the first time in four days. Electricity in Texas, the country’s second-biggest state, was restored to about 2.5 million people. The head of the cooperative that is responsible for most of the state’s electricity said there was progress Wednesday in boosting available power and that officials hoped that soon people would only have to deal with rolling blackouts before service is fully restored. But the state faced a new problem, with officials ordering 7 million people, about a quarter of its population, to boil tap water before drinking it because of damaged infrastructure and frozen pipes. Texas Governor Greg Abbott urged residents, if possible, to shut off water to their homes, to prevent pipes from bursting and preserve water pressure in municipal systems. The massive storm system has been blamed for at least 30 deaths in the U.S. this week. In the Houston area, the Associated Press reported that one family died from carbon monoxide poisoning due to car exhaust in their garage, while a grandmother and …

Canada’s cancellation of the 2021 Alaska cruise ship season due to the coronavirus pandemic has angered the U.S. state’s politicians and rattled the tourism industry in both countries. Those on the ground in both Alaska and the Canadian province of British Columbia are dealing with the fallout.Citing continuing concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic, the Canadian Transportation Ministry has extended the prohibition of any passenger cruise vessels carrying over 100 people between Canada and Alaska. The order extends through February 2022.    In a terse statement, Alaska’s U.S. congressional delegation complained that the decision was made arbitrarily by Canada with no consultation or advance notice. The statement, from the two U.S. senators and the state’s only representative, also says it was made without any consideration for Alaska or the state’s economy.   FILE – The Grand Princess cruise ship in Gastineau Channel in Juneau, Alaska, May 30, 2018.According to the Alaska Travel Industry Association, in 2019 the state welcomed more than 1.3 million visitors who arrived on cruise ships, comprising 60 percent of the state’s summer visitors.    The association’s CEO, Sarah Leonard, is urging a temporary waiver to the U.S. Passenger Vessel Services Act to allow cruise ships to sail from …

Former Japanese athlete Seiko Hashimoto has become the new president of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics organizing committee after Yoshiro Mori resigned following sexist remarks about women.   Hashimoto, a 56-year-old lawmaker in Japan’s ruling party, participated in seven Summer and Winter Olympics as a skater and a cyclist.     She was named president of the committee after a meeting with a male-dominated executive board.   Hashimoto replaced Mori, the 83-year-old former prime minister.     Mori said at a Feb. 3 Olympics board of trustees meeting that women talk too much, declaring that “board meetings with lots of women take longer” because “if one member raises her hand to speak, others might think they need to talk, too.”   Mori retracted his comments and apologized the next day and said he would not resign before stepping down last week.   His remarks, which were leaked to Japanese media, sparked public debate in the country about gender equality and fueled concerns over the feasibility of holding the games later this year.     Organizers previously made the risky decision to begin the Games on July 23 in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic with 11,000 athletes.   Hashimoto is tasked …

Artworks owned by the late artist Christo and his wife, Jean-Claude, a duo famed for wrapping landmarks in fabric, sold for $9.6 million at auction on Wednesday.The 28 lots under the hammer at Sotheby’s in Paris included drawings for the couple’s “The Umbrellas (Joint project for Japan and USA),” two spectacular installations by the couple in 1991 consisting of thousands of umbrellas erected simultaneously in Japan and Los Angeles.Less than a year after his death at the age of 84, Christo is evidently more in demand than ever, with more than three quarters of the works on sale selling above estimate.The works, snapped up by buyers in the United States, Asia and Europe, had been expected to sell for between $3 million and $4.5 million collectively.The preparatory drawings for the yellow Californian umbrellas set a new record for a work by the Bulgarian-born U.S. artist at $2 million, while the Japanese version sold for about $1.4 million.A second set of works from the couple’s private collection are due to go on sale Thursday.Christo collaborated with Jeanne-Claude, his wife of 51 years, until her death in 2009 and continued to produce dramatic pieces into his 80s.From Paris’s oldest bridge to Berlin’s …

Yoshiro Mori’s replacement as president of the Tokyo Olympic organizing committee is expected to be named very quickly. The 83-year-old former prime minister was forced to step down last week after making demeaning remarks about women. Basically, he said they talk too much.There is pressure to name a woman to replace Mori. But don’t bet on it happening with the Olympics opening in just over five months. Mori tried last week to work behind the scenes to appoint 84-year-old Saburo Kawabuchi, the former head of the governing body of Japanese soccer. Public opinion and social media quickly pushed back against the move and Kawabuchi withdrew from consideration. Some news reports in Japan say the front-runner might be 63-year-old Yasuhiro Yamashita, the head of the Japanese Olympic Committee and a judo gold medalist from the 1984 Olympics. Yamashita took over the Japanese Olympic body after his predecessor, Tsunekazu Takeda, was forced to step down in 2019 in a bribery scandal. Yamashita is also a member of the International Olympic Committee by virtue of his position in Japan. A panel to pick Mori’s replacement, set up by the organizing committee, met on Tuesday. It was expected to meet again Wednesday and come up with a list of candidates. It’s unclear when …

Black Americans attend church more regularly than Americans overall, and pray more often. Most attend churches that are predominantly Black, yet many would like those congregations to become racially diverse. There is broad respect for Black churches’ historical role in seeking racial equality, coupled with a widespread perception they have lost influence in recent decades. Those are among the key findings in a comprehensive report released Tuesday by the Pew Research Center, which surveyed 8,660 Black adults across the United States about their religious experiences. It is Pew’s first large-scale survey on the topic. Among Black adults who go to religious services, 60% attend churches where the senior clergy and most or all of the congregation are Black, Pew found. It said 25% are part of multiracial congregations, and 13% are part of congregations that are predominantly white or another ethnicity. Pew said patterns of worship are shifting across generations: Younger Black adults, born since 1980, attend church less often than their elders, and those who attend are less likely to do so in a predominantly Black congregation. FILE – Church parishioners sit socially distanced at a prayer vigil for racial justice at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Seattle, July 19, 2020.Among 30 Black …

South Africa has held (Feb 10-14) its annual International Public Art Festival (IPAF), despite the COVID-19 pandemic and social distancing measures. Turnout was low but those attending welcomed the street festival as a chance to get out of the house. Vinicius Assis reports from Cape Town.Produced by: Jason Godman   Camera: Vinicius Assis …

Spanish rapper Pablo Hasél was arrested Tuesday after a 24-hour standoff between him and his free speech supporters on one side and Catalan anti-riot police on the other. Along with more than 50 supporters, Hásel barricaded himself in rectorate building of Lleida University, located some 160 kilometers west of Barcelona, to resist reporting to serve a prison sentence and to campaign for free speech.“We will win! They will not bend us with all their repression. Never!” the 32-year-old rapper yelled to TV news cameras during his arrest.Hasél, whose birth name is Pablo Rivadulla Duró, has gained attention across Spain for demanding a change to the country’s so-called “Gag Law.” The 2015 legislation, called the Citizen Safety Law, imposes fines for protesting in front of parliament or taking and sharing photographs of police officers. The law became more restrictive during Spain’s mandatory coronavirus quarantine, according to the country’s newspaper El País.Over 200 artists, including film director Pedro Almodóvar and actor Javier Bardem, signed a petition against his jail term. Amnesty International condemned Hasél’s arrest as “terrible news for freedom of expression in Spain.”Last week, the left-wing coalition government of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced it would change Spain’s criminal code to eliminate …

“Our Big Chief told us he doesn’t want us out there this Mardi Gras because of COVID,” Aaron “Flagboy Giz” Hartley told VOA. “He said it wasn’t safe for our members or for the public watching us.”Until this year, Hartley took part in a festive New Orleans tradition dating back to the 1800s, the Mardi Gras Indian. In a unique intermingling of African American and Native American cultures, scores of Black paradegoers don colorful renditions of some elements of Native American garb.”There’s nothing like it in the world,” said Hartley.February 16 is Fat Tuesday, which literally translates to “Mardi Gras.” For Catholics in many parts of the world, the day represents one final celebration before the more solemn six-week period known as Lent.A festively-dressed dinosaurs greets visitors at this home in New Orleans. (Matt Haines/VOA)Perhaps no place in the world celebrates the day more raucously than New Orleans. In a normal year, you’d find Mardi Gras Indians like Hartley with their elaborate suits made of beads, feathers and sequins. You’d find colorful, thematic floats the size of small buildings rumbling down oak-lined avenues as masked “Krewe” members toss beads, cups, decorative coins (and just about everything else you can or …

“Our Big Chief told us he doesn’t want us out there this Mardi Gras because of COVID,” Aaron “Flagboy Giz” Hartley told VOA. “He said it wasn’t safe for our members or for the public watching us.”Until this year, Hartley took part in a festive New Orleans tradition dating back to the 1800s, the Mardi Gras Indian. In a unique intermingling of African American and Native American cultures, scores of Black paradegoers don colorful renditions of some elements of Native American garb.”There’s nothing like it in the world,” said Hartley.February 16 is Fat Tuesday, which literally translates to “Mardi Gras.” For Catholics in many parts of the world, the day represents one final celebration before the more solemn six-week period known as Lent.A festively-dressed dinosaurs greets visitors at this home in New Orleans. (Matt Haines/VOA)Perhaps no place in the world celebrates the day more raucously than New Orleans. In a normal year, you’d find Mardi Gras Indians like Hartley with their elaborate suits made of beads, feathers and sequins. You’d find colorful, thematic floats the size of small buildings rumbling down oak-lined avenues as masked “Krewe” members toss beads, cups, decorative coins (and just about everything else you can or …