A Japanese district court ruled Wednesday that a ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional.   The historic ruling by the Sapporo District Court was in response to a lawsuit filed by six plaintiffs, including two male couples and one female couple, who demanded more than $9,100 each (1 million yen), in damages from the Japanese government.  The court said the prohibition violates Article 14 of the Japanese constitution, which declares all people are equal under the law, but it rejected the plaintiff’s demand for damages.      The lawsuit is one of five that have been filed in various Japanese courts seeking to overturn the ban.     Japan is the lone holdout in the world’s top seven economies, known as the Group of Seven, that refuses to recognize same-sex marriage.  The government says the constitution defines marriage as one based on “the mutual consent of both sexes,” meaning one solely between a man and a woman.  The ban prevents same-sex couples from sharing in the same benefits granted to opposite-sex couples, such as inheriting their partner’s houses and other assets, or maintaining parental control over their children.       Several municipalities have issued “partnership certificates” that give same-sex couples …

South by Southwest, the annual event in Austin, Texas, that brings together technology, music, politics and Hollywood, is happening digitally this year after being canceled last year due to COVID-19. Michelle Quinn reports.Producer: Matt Dibble   …

Britain’s Prince Philip left a London hospital on Tuesday after being treated for an infection and undergoing a heart procedure. Philip, 99, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II, had been hospitalized since being admitted to the private King Edward VII’s Hospital in London on Feb. 16, where he was treated for an infection.   He was later transferred to a specialized cardiac care hospital, St. Bartholomew’s, for a short stay, before returning to King Edward VII’s. Photographers standing outside the door of the private hospital captured his departure in the back of a black car. Buckingham Palace has not yet commented on the matter. Philip’s illness is not believed to be related to the coronavirus. Both Philip and Elizabeth received COVID-19 vaccinations in January and chose to publicize the matter to encourage others to also take the vaccine. Philip, also known as the Duke of Edinburgh, retired in 2017 and rarely appears in public. Before his hospitalization, he had been isolating at Windsor Castle, west of London, with the queen. His illness comes as the royal family has been rocked by an interview with Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, and Prince Harry. In the explosive broadcast, Meghan, who is biracial, said …

David Fincher’s “Mank” led FILE – Chloe Zhao poses for a portrait to promote her film “Nomadland” during the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, Jan. 22, 2018.The other directing nominees were Lee Isaac Chung for “Minari,” Fincher for “Mank” and Thomas Vinterberg for “Another Round.”For performers, it’s the most diverse slate of nominees ever — and a far cry from the all-white acting nominees that spawned the #OscarsSoWhite hashtag five years ago. Nine of the 20 acting nominees are people of color, including a posthumous best-actor nomination for Chadwick Boseman (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”), and nods for Riz Ahmed (“Sound of Metal”), Steven Yeun (“Minari”), Daniel Kaluuya and Lakeith Stanfield (“Judas and the Black Messiah”), Leslie Odom Jr. (“One Night in Miami”), Viola Davis (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”), Andra Day (“The People vs. Billie Holiday”) and Yuh-Jung Youn (“Minari”).Davis, who won for her performance in 2016’s “Fences,” landed her fourth Oscar nomination, making Davis the most nominated Black actress ever. Yeun is the first Asian American ever nominated for best actor.The other nominees for best actress are: Carey Mulligan, “Promising Young Woman”; Frances McDormand, “Nomadland”; Vanessa Kirby, “Pieces of a Woman.”The remaining nominees for best actor are: Anthony …

A virtual music competition with real prizes — this is the concept of a new music platform called Djooky. Both amateur and professional songwriters and musicians from around the world are invited to participate for free. Mariia Prus has the story. Camera: Kostiantyn Golubchyk   …

The Vatican decreed Monday that the Catholic Church cannot bless same-sex unions since God “cannot bless sin.”The Vatican’s orthodoxy office, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, issued a formal response Monday to a question about whether Catholic clergy can bless gay unions.The answer, contained in a two-page explanation published in seven languages and approved by Pope Francis, was “negative.”The decree distinguished between the church’s welcoming and blessing of gay people, which it upheld, but not their unions.The Vatican holds that gays much be treated with dignity and respect, but that gay sex is “intrinsically disordered.” Catholic teaching holds that marriage between a man and woman is part of God’s plan and is intended for the sake of creating new life.Since gay unions are not intended to be part of that plan, they cannot be blessed by the church, the document said.“The presence in such relationships of positive elements, which are in themselves to be valued and appreciated, cannot justify these relationships and render them legitimate objects of an ecclesial blessing, since the positive elements exist within the context of a union not ordered to the Creator’s plan,” the response said.God “does not and cannot bless sin: He blesses …

Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish won the top prizes at the Grammy Awards on Sunday in a ceremony that also saw Beyonce become the most awarded female artist in Grammy history. Swift’s surprise lockdown record “Folklore” was named album of the year and Eilish’s “Everything I Wanted” won record of the year. Sunday’s win made Swift, 31, the first woman to take home album of the year three times. Beyonce’s four Grammys on Sunday took her total career wins to 28, surpassing the previous record for a woman set by bluegrass singer Alison Krauss.British singer Dua Lipa won best pop vocal album for her dance-y “Future Nostalgia.”Alicia Keys and Dua Lipa react at the 2020 Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, March 14, 2021.The writers of “I Can’t Breathe” by R&B artist H.E.R won song of the year. It was written in response to the Black Lives Matter protests in the United States last summer. Rapper Megan Thee Stallion was named best new artist and the 26-year-old known for promoting women’s empowerment won two more Grammys for her rap performance of single “Savage,” featuring Beyonce. Hosted by Trevor Noah, the hybrid ceremony was packed with pre-recorded and live performances by the likes of Lipa, Taylor Swift, Post Malone, Cardi B, DaBaby, Black Pumas and Mickey Guyton. It took place both indoors and outdoors in Downtown Los Angeles but mostly without the elaborate sets and special effects …

Queen Bey is closer to sitting on her Grammys throne: The singer won her 26th Grammy on Sunday, almost matching, and on track to surpass, Alison Krauss’ record of 27 wins.Beyoncé, this year’s leading contender with nine nominations, won two honors during the pre-ceremony including best rap performance for “Savage” with Megan Thee Stallion and best music video for “Brown Skin Girl.” She shares the latter with daughter Blue Ivy Carter, who is also having a historic night: At 9 years old, she’s the second youngest to win a Grammy.Beyoncé’s other nominations, including song and record of the year, best R&B performance and best rap song, will broadcast during the live show, which kicked off with host Trevor Noah telling jokes about the coronavirus pandemic and the year that was 2020.He was live from downtown Los Angeles, with attendees wearing masks and sitting, socially distanced, at small round tables.  That was followed by performances from Harry Styles, who is competing for his first Grammys this year, and Billie Eilish, who won five Grammys last year and picked up her sixth honor during the preshow.Taylor Swift, Dua Lipa and Beyonce Battle for Grammys Top Prizes  Beyoncé, now the most nominated female …

Dame Zaturoski from Struga, North Macedonia, is a lawyer by training, but his true passion is making models of boats and ships. Reporter Miki Trajkovski went to North Macedonia to see his latest creation and filed this story narrated by Anna Rice. …

Taylor Swift, Beyoncé and Dua Lipa lead the charge at the reinvented Grammy Awards on Sunday, where the music industry hopes to put a year-long pandemic behind it.But an unusually diverse line-up of contenders for the top prize – album of the year – mean it could be anyone’s night.”The nominations were so surprising – The Weeknd not getting nominated – it’s a very strange year to try to predict,” said Melinda Newman, Billboard’s executive editor for the West Coast and Nashville.”I think it’s going to be a year where no-one makes a clean sweep,” she added. The winners are chosen by some 11,000 voting members of the Recording Academy. Interim Recording Academy president Harvey Mason Jr said he hoped the show would be “a chance to have a little bit of normalcy, of people coming together and playing music.”Beyoncé, now the most nominated female artist in Grammy history with 79 career nods, leads all comers with nine nominations. The nods come mostly from music like single “Black Parade” that celebrated Black culture in a year of racial turmoil in the United States.But Beyoncé is not on the list of musicians booked for Sunday’s three-hour show, which will take place as a …

Marvelous Marvin Hagler stopped Thomas Hearns in a fight that lasted less than eight minutes yet was so epic that it still lives in boxing lore. Two years later he was so disgusted after losing a decision to Sugar Ray Leonard — stolen, he claimed, by the judges — that he never fought again.One of the great middleweights in boxing history, Hagler died Saturday at age 66. His wife, Kay, announced his death on the Facebook page for Hagler’s fans.”I am sorry to make a very sad announcement,” she wrote. “Today unfortunately my beloved husband Marvelous Marvin passed away unexpectedly at his home here in New Hampshire. Our family requests that you respect our privacy during this difficult time.”Hagler fought on boxing’s biggest stages against its biggest names, as he, Leonard, Hearns and Roberto Duran dominated the middleweight classes during a golden time for boxing in the 1980s. Quiet with a brooding public persona, Hagler fought 67 times in 14 years as a pro out of Brockton, Massachusetts, finishing 62-3-2 with 52 knockouts.He fought with a proverbial chip on his shoulder, convinced that boxing fans and promoters alike didn’t give him his proper due. He was so upset that he …

U.S. Senator Marco Rubio on Friday became the first high-profile Republican lawmaker to support a growing push to unionize Amazon.com, Inc., workers in Alabama, after several Democratic lawmakers visited the company’s facility last week.In an opinion piece in USA Today, Rubio wrote that Amazon has “waged a war against working-class values” and is “looking to crush the union vote” in Bessemer, Alabama.”Here’s my standard: When the conflict is between working Americans and a company whose leadership has decided to wage culture war against working-class values, the choice is easy, I support the workers. And that’s why I stand with those at Amazon’s Bessemer warehouse today.”Rubio’s backing is noteworthy as Republicans traditionally favor businesses and investors looking to squelch unionizing efforts.Amazon workers at the Alabama facility began voting by mail in February on whether to join the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) and become the first group of U.S. Amazon employees to unionize. The union’s President Stuart Appelbaum welcomed the support from Rubio and said this fight “should not be a partisan issue.”President Joe Biden also recently expressed support for the Amazon warehouse employees and defended workers’ rights to form unions.Last week, Democratic U.S. Representatives Andy Levin, Jamaal Bowman, …

Japan will not take part in China’s offer — accepted by the International Olympic Committee — to provide vaccines for “participants” in the postponed Tokyo Games and next year’s Beijing Winter Games.Olympic Minister Tamayo Marukawa said Friday that Japan had not been consulted by the IOC about the Chinese vaccines, and that Japanese athletes would not take them. She said the vaccines have not been approved for use in Japan.”We have been taking comprehensive anti-infectious disease measures for the Tokyo Games in order to allow participation without vaccinations,” Marukawa said. “There is no change to our principle of not making vaccinations a prerequisite.”Announced by IOC President Thomas Bach on Thursday, the surprise deal comes as China faces mounting international pressure over the internment of at least 1 million Muslim Uyghurs, which has been labeled a “genocide” by several governments and human rights bodies.The IOC has indicated it is a sports body and will not meddle in domestic issues in China.The IOC initially said it would not require athletes to get vaccines, but only encourage it. The deal with China puts more emphasis on getting vaccines to young, healthy athletes and others.The IOC has said it will pay for the vaccines …

Iranian authorities have arrested multiple music producers connected to a California-based Iranian pop singer, his management company and Iranian media said Thursday. It was seen as Tehran’s latest effort to halt what it deems decadent Western behavior.The arrests came as Iranian social media have been awash with criticism of popular underground Iranian singer “Sasy,” or Sasan Heidari Yafteh, who has released a new music video. Called “Tehran Tokyo,” the video features actresses, including an American porn star, gyrating in kimonos and short, tight dresses atop cars and inside bars. The clip racked up 18 million views within a week.Over the years, Sasy has become known for lyrics that Iranian conservatives see as tainting the country’s moral probity. In a previous song also featuring a porn actress, he instructed teenagers to take alcohol shots if they can’t fall asleep and to scroll through Instagram instead of finishing their homework.In Iran, where the government retains tight controls over traditional media like newspapers and television, authorities have used courts to patrol social media platforms beyond their reach. Hours before the video went live late Wednesday, Iranian security forces detained two popular music arrangers who worked on the song in the southern city of …

Prince William on Thursday defended Britain’s royal family against accusations of racism made by his brother Prince Harry and sister-in-law Meghan, saying the royals are “very much not a racist family.” In comments made during a visit to an east London school, William became the first royal to directly address the explosive interview broadcast Sunday in the U.S. that his brother and the Duchess of Sussex gave to Oprah Winfrey.Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can download this video to view it offline.Download File360p | 12 MB480p | 17 MB540p | 22 MB720p | 48 MB1080p | 95 MBOriginal | 263 MB Embed” />Copy Download AudioBuckingham Palace’s sought to respond to Harry and Meghan’s allegations of racism and mistreatment in a 61-word statement, but it has failed to quell the controversy. William, second in line to the throne after his father Prince Charles, says he hadn’t yet spoken to Harry in the aftermath of the interview, “but I will do.”   Harry and Meghan’s comments have rocked the royal family — and touched off conversations around the world about racism, mental health and even the relationship between Britain and its former colonies. Those tensions …

As Oprah Winfrey’s TV interview with Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex reverberates internationally, it’s left the more than 50 million viewers grappling with the couple’s claims of racism and lack of support that Meghan says drove her to thoughts of suicide. But for many Black women worldwide, the headlines and social media discussions were painfully familiar. With social media conversations questioning whether racism affected Meghan’s treatment by the British press and royal family, many Black women say it is yet another example of a Black woman’s experiences with racism being disregarded and denied. “White supremacy seeks to isolate you, make you feel like no one is listening and no one is supporting you. It uses that as a tool to keep in power,” said Gaye Theresa Johnson, associate professor in the Department of African American Studies at UCLA. “And so when you aren’t validated in your feelings or feel supported, that does real harm.” The former Meghan Markle, daughter of a white father and a Black mother, said that when she was pregnant with her son Archie, a member of the royal family expressed “concerns … about how dark his skin might be.” The former television star also said she sought mental health help through the palace’s human resources department but …

The U.S. Special Envoy for Climate John Kerry said Wednesday the world’s developed countries – which emit most of the world’s greenhouse gases – “have every capacity” to address the climate crisis. Speaking at a joint news conference in Paris with French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, Kerry stressed that no one country or government can address the issue alone. Referencing the 2015 Paris Agreement, Kerry said it was about everyone accepting the same emission reduction goals.   But he said, too few nations have abided by their commitments. He said, “The point of Paris ((agreement)) is everybody has said that we will get on this road, and the problem today is we’re not on that road sufficiently.” Former U.S. president Donald Trump had withdrawn from the Paris agreement, and U.S. President Joe Biden very soon after he was sworn into office, agreed to rejoin the accord.   French Finance Minister Le Maire said France was “very happy” about the U.S. decision, telling reporters that climate issues are the “main challenge of our generation and future generations.” The 2015 Paris climate change accord commits countries to put forward plans for reducing their emissions of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, …

Israel’s premier museum for Islamic art has scrapped the planned auction of scores of rare and precious items after public outcry over the attempted sale, which had been expected to fetch millions of dollars from wealthy private collectors.  In a settlement struck Wednesday, the Sotheby’s auction house agreed to return 268 items from London back to the L.A. Mayer Museum for Islamic Art in Jerusalem. The agreement ends a saga that drew broad condemnation and threatened to gut one of Israel’s prized public art collections. Art experts criticized the attempted sale to private collectors, saying it had been hidden from the public and violated the museum’s founding mission to edify the Israeli public about the Islamic world through art. As part of the arrangement, the Al Thani Collection, an art foundation funded by the ruling family of the energy-rich Gulf Arab state of Qatar, “will generously provide an annual sponsorship to the L.A. Mayer Museum for Islamic Art” for 10 years, while one of the Islamic Art Museum’s pieces will be given on long-term loan to the Al Thani Collection’s gallery at the Hotel de la Marine in Paris. The Israeli daily Haaretz said that Sotheby’s would receive a 2 million pound cancellation …

One of the most dramatic claims in Prince Harry and Meghan’s interview with Oprah Winfrey was the allegation that their son was denied a royal title, possibly because of his skin color. Harry and Meghan’s son, seventh in line to the British throne, is Archie Mountbatten-Windsor. In contrast, the children of Harry’s older brother, Prince William, are Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis. Meghan said that while she was pregnant “they” — presumably the palace — “were saying they didn’t want him to be a prince … which would be different from protocol.” She implied it might be a case of “the first member of color in this family not being titled in the same way that other grandchildren would be.”Was Archie Snubbed? Queen Elizabeth II has nine great-grandchildren, including Archie. They are not princes and princesses, apart from the three children of Prince William, who is second in line to the throne and destined to be king one day. A decree issued by King George V in 1917 limits the titles of prince and princess to the children of the monarch, children of the monarch’s sons and “the eldest living son of the eldest son of the Prince …

Longtime NBC and CBS correspondent and television anchor Roger Mudd has died at the age of 93. CBS News says Mudd died Tuesday of complications of kidney failure at his home in McLean, Virginia. The journalist famously once stumped Sen. Edward Kennedy by simply asking why he wanted to be president. During more than 30 years on network television, Mudd covered Congress, elections and political conventions. He was also a frequent anchor and contributor to various specials. His career coincided with the flowering of television news, when the big three networks and their powerhouse ranks of reporters were the main source of news for millions of Americans. Besides work at CBS and NBC, he did stints on PBS’s “MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour” and the History Channel.   When he joined Robert MacNeil and Jim Lehrer’s show in 1987, Mudd told The Associated Press: “I think they regard news and information and fact and opinion with a reverence and respect that really is admirable.” He wrote a memoir, “The Place To Be,” which came out in early 2008, and described the challenges and clashing egos he encountered working in Washington, where among other things he covered Congress for CBS for 15 years.   …

Buckingham Palace said Tuesday the British royal family is “saddened to learn the full extent of how challenging the past few years have been” for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, popularly known as Harry and Meghan.Following a widely publicized CBS interview Sunday with Oprah Winfrey, in which issues of race, family dynamics and suicidal thoughts were raised, a Buckingham Palace statement issued on behalf of Queen Elizabeth said, “While some recollections may vary, they are taken very seriously and will be addressed by the family privately.”The statement, published on Twitter, also said the couple and their son Archie will always be “much loved family members.”The statement comes after Markle, who is biracial, said a member of the family raised concerns over “how dark” Archie would be. The former actress is now pregnant with her second child.In February, the palace announced the duke and duchess would not return as working royals, almost a year after it was announced that they would be stepping down from their duties as working members of the royal family. The couple moved to North America later that year. They currently reside in California.Tuesday marks the first time the royal family has publicly responded to the …

U.S. President Joe Biden’s two dogs have reportedly been sent back to his home in Delaware after what has been described as aggressive behavior toward a member of White House security. The U.S. cable channel CNN first reported late Monday one of the dogs, Major, had bitten a security staff member, citing people close to the situation. There was no report on how serious the bite was, but apparently staff felt it warranted to remove the dogs from the White House and its grounds. Major, at three years old, is the younger of the Biden’s two German shepherds and was adopted from a Delaware animal shelter. The CNN sources said the dog has been known to display “agitated” behavior, including jumping, barking and “charging at some staff members. Reports say there has been no comment from the White House. The other dog, Champion, is at least 13 years old and slowed by age. Both are the first rescue dogs to live at the White House. In interviews, first lady Jill Biden has indicated it has taken the dogs some time to get used to their surroundings at the White House since moving in January. She said they tend to “run …

Britain’s royal family was plunged into crisis Monday, a day after the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, known popularly as Harry and Meghan, said in an interview that a royal had raised concerns about the color of son Archie’s skin and that the child would not be made a prince. “So, we have in tandem the conversation of, you won’t be given security. He won’t be given security. He’s not going to be given a title. And also concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he’s born,” Meghan told media mogul Oprah Winfrey in the interview broadcast Sunday evening on U.S. television network CBS.  Meghan is the biracial child of a Black mother and white father. Questioned about the allegations later in the interview, Prince Harry said the conversation had taken place early in his and Meghan’s relationship. They did not name the person who made the comment.This undated image released March 7, 2021 courtesy of Harpo Productions shows Britain’s Prince Harry (L) and his wife Meghan (C), Duchess of Sussex, in a conversation with U.S. television host Oprah Winfrey.“That conversation I’m never going to share. But at the time, it was awkward. I was a bit shocked,” …

International Women’s Day celebrates women’s achievements and highlights issues of women’s rights. To mark the occasion Monday, the U.S. State Department presented the International Women of Courage Award, and VOA spoke with a recipient.  VOA’s Arash Arabasadi has this report.Camera:  AP/REUTERS/SKYPE Produced by: Arash Arabasadi …