Diplomacy can be fraught at the best of times. Serious, high-level events are regularly punctuated with physical gaffes, miscues, awkward handshakes, strained laughter and cultural misunderstandings of varying scope and severity.   Like the time President Donald Trump appeared to shove the prime minister of Montenegro at a NATO summit. Or when President Barack Obama got caught on a hot mic complaining to then-French President Nicolas Sarkozy about the prime minister of Israel, a key U.S. ally. Or when Russia’s foreign minister awkwardly explained to Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, on live TV, that the “reset” button she handed him actually read, in Russian, “overcharge.”   Or, perhaps most spectacularly — even more so than his performance later that year when he vomited on Japan’s prime minister — the time President George H.W. Bush visited U.S. ally Australia and flashed the crowd what he may have thought was a sign for victory, or peace.   That two-fingered salute does not mean either of those things in Australia.   At the worst of times — like in the middle of a pandemic, when leaders can’t meet in person to hash out important issues — diplomacy can be excruciating. Like the agonizingly long pause during a recent virtual U.S.-led climate …

America’s re-engagement with the world coincides with a weird new era: that of virtual diplomacy. Since the pandemic made travel unsafe, world leaders have taken their diplomacy digital, opening up new possibilities for engagement — but also, new concerns about fairness and transparency, and the occasional awkward moment. VOA’s Anita Powell follows this story — virtually, of course — and reports from Johannesburg.Camera: Zaheer Cassim/Nike Ching (cellphone video)    Producer: Jon Spier  …

Zimbabwean sculptor David Ngwerume is gaining attention for works inspired by the pandemic. One of his collections urges people to get vaccinated and another reminds people to take health measures hammering home a message to curb the spread of the virus. Ngwerume’s latest piece is called “Michael Jackson,” named after the late U.S. pop icon who was well-known for wearing masks and a glove. Columbus Mavhunga reports from Harare.Camera: Blessing Chigwenhembe       …

With the rail still open and Kentucky Derby post positions dwindling, Brad Cox grew anxious about the most notable of his two horses drawing the least desired spot. The homegrown trainer soon breathed easier. Essential Quality got something more palatable, though the hardest part awaits with the target firmly on his back. Essential Quality is the 2-1 morning line favorite and will start from the No. 14 post for Saturday’s 147th Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs. “It got a little nerve-wracking with both horses still to go and the rail still being out there,” Cox said Tuesday. “I think it’ll be a good spot. He’s got good tactical speed that he’ll be able to get into a good position from there.”  The $3 million, 1 1/4-mile marquee race for 3-year-old colts is back on the first Saturday of May after being delayed to Labor Day weekend last fall because of the pandemic. About 45,000 spectators are expected at the track.  Rock Your World is the 5-1 second choice from the No. 15 slot, with Known Agenda the 6-1 third choice despite drawing the rail in the 20-horse field. Hot Rod Charlie drew 8-1 odds as the fourth choice from the No. 9 slot. Kentucky …

Different races and religions sharing space is part of America’s melting pot ethos. Indonesian-American Christians and Muslims in Philadelphia are doing just that. VOA’s Alam Burhanan has more in this report narrated by Nova Poerwadi.Camera: Alam Burhanan, Irfan Ihsan, Ronan Zakaria   …

Zimbabwean sculptor David Ngwerume is gaining attention for works inspired by the coronavirus pandemic. One of his collections urges people to get vaccinated. Another reminds people to take health measures, as he hammers home a message to curb the spread of the virus. Ngwerume’s latest piece is “Michael Jackson,” named after the late U.S. pop icon who was well known for wearing masks and a glove.Forty-year-old Zimbabwean sculptor David Ngwerume is making what he calls a “COVID-19 Gallery.” Forty-year-old Zimbabwean sculptor David Ngwerume in front of his exhibit, called “Arms,” in what he calls a “COVID-19 Gallery” in Harare, April 23, 2021. He encourages people to take the COVID jab to help the country reach its vaccination target of 60 percent by the end of the year. (Columbus Mavhunga/VOA)His exhibit, called “Arms,” encourages people to take the COVID jab to help the country reach its vaccination target of 60 percent by the end of the year.Another one, called “We are torn,” encourages people to sneeze into their elbows.And the most talked about one encourages people to mask up in an exhibit called: “MJ” – named after the late U.S. pop icon “Michael Jackson.”“The iconic Michael Jackson was the first celebrity to …

While some mosques have opened to prayer during this second Ramadan during the COVID-19 pandemic, religious studies continue online. And in at least one mosque near Washington, D.C., a local teen is trying to keep the lessons entertaining and engaging, as VOA’s Dhania Iman reports.Camera: Dhania Iman Produced by:    Bronwyn Benito  …

Taking home the Academy Awards, or Oscars, for Best Director and Best Picture would normally be a notable event, but apparently not in China for Chloé Zhao, who won the two prizes for her movie “Nomadland.”State media outlets were silent about the accolades for the Chinese-born Zhao, with no mention on either CCTV or Xinhua.Sunday’s awards ceremony was not aired live in China or in Hong Kong.News of her win was also censored on China’s highly controlled internet. According to the Associated Press, a post about Zhao’s win by a movie-related account on China’s Weibo microblogging site was censored a few hours after it was posted.Some users had to resort to using the code “zt,” Zhao’s initials using her Chinese name Zhao Ting, to talk about Zhao.A popular movie app, Douban, banned even searching for “Nomadland” and “Zhao Ting.”Zhao left China at the age of 14 to go to boarding school in London and later moved to Los Angeles. Some social media users in China said she insulted the country in past comments when she was nominated for a Golden Globe in March, but in her acceptance speeches, she was apolitical and even recalled her childhood in China fondly.”Nomadland” had …

Burkina Faso has a growing comedy scene that despite the international popularity of French-Burkinabé comedian Roukiata Ouedraogo is still dominated locally by men. But a fresh initiative hopes to change that, as Clair MacDougall reports from Ouagadougou.Camera: Clair MacDougall …

With diversity at center stage, minority Oscar nominees took home many coveted golden statuettes, but the three major awards for best actor, best actress and best cinematography went to white nominees. VOA’s Penelope Poulou has more. Camera: Penelope Poulou      Producer: Penelope Poulou   …

Chinese filmmaker Chloe Zhao became only the second woman, and the first woman of color, to win the Academy Award for best director as her film Nomadland also captured the award for best picture at Sunday’s Oscars.The film follows a woman who leaves her small town to wander the American West, meeting along the way others who have sought an itinerant life away from conventional society.“I have always found goodness in the people I’ve met everywhere I went in the world,” Zhao said as she accepted her directing award. “This is for anyone who has the faith and the courage to hold onto the goodness in themselves and hold onto to the goodness in each other, no matter how difficult it is to do that.”Nomadland star Frances McDormand won the Oscar for best actress. It was her second time winning the award, following her recognition in 2018 for her role in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.The award for best actor went to Anthony Hopkins for his role as a man battling dementia in the film The Father, which also won for best adapted screenplay. Hopkins first won an Oscar nearly 30 years ago.Best original screenplay went to Emerald Fennell for …

Chloé Zhao has made history at the Academy Awards.Zhao won the Oscar for best director for Nomadland, becoming just the second woman and the first woman of color to win the award.”My entire Nomadland company, what a crazy, once-in-a-lifetime journey we’ve all been on together,” Zhao said.Kathryn Bigelow was the first woman to win, for The Hurt Locker, in 2009.This was the only year in Oscar history with two female nominees, Zhao and Promising Young Woman director Emerald Fennell. Only seven women have ever been nominated.It was the first Oscar for the 39-year-old Zhao, who was born in Beijing and went to college and film school in the United States. Nomadland is her third feature.The other nominees were Lee Isaac Chung for Minari, Thomas Vinterberg for Another Round, and David Fincher for Mank.Best animated featurePixar’s Soul has won the Oscar for best animated feature.The film stars the voices of Jamie Foxx and Tina Fey.Soul follows an aspiring musician and middle-school band teacher who loses his life — but attempts to escape the afterlife during his quest to help an infant soul.Pixar has now won the award 11 times in the 20 years since the category was established.Best supporting actorDaniel Kaluuya …

The red carpet is back. After the coronavirus pandemic forced awards shows to be canceled or go virtual over the past year, movie stars and Hollywood A-listers returned Sunday to strut their stuff, live and in person, on perhaps the most iconic red carpet of all: at the Oscars.It was a smaller-than-usual affair with fewer celebrities and cameras — and strict COVID-19 protocols in place. But there was no less glamour to grace the carpet set up at Los Angeles’ Union Station, where the 93rd annual Academy Awards will take place this year.Wearing a double-breasted black tuxedo, actor Paul Raci, 73, was among the first to step in front of the microphones on the carpet.”I don’t think I could have it any other way; it means a lot. It’s perfect,” said Raci, who has been nominated for best supporting actor for his role in the movie “The Sound of Metal.”TV hosts and personalities described a pent-up red carpet energy, with stars and spectators alike eager to forget, albeit temporarily, the rigors of 2020.”Minari” star Steven Yeun, one of the nominees for best actor, said it felt strange to be out and interacting with people.”I haven’t talked to random people in …

A piece of copper that was struck by the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia in 1794 and  was a prototype for the fledgling nation’s money was auctioned off for $840,000, considerably more than expected, an official said.Heritage auctions spokesman Eric Bradley said the “No Stars Flowing Hair Dollar” opened at $312,000 when it was put up Friday evening but “in less than a minute, intense bidding quickly pushed the coin to its final auction price of $840,000.”The coin, formerly owned by businessman and Texas Rangers co-chairman Bob Simpson, had been expected to sell for $350,000 to $500,000, Bradley said.This is the back of a piece of copper that was struck by the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia in 1794 and was a prototype for the fledgling nation’s money. The item, which is known as the “No Stars Flowing Hair Dollar,” sold for nearly $1 million.While it closely resembles silver dollars that were later minted in Philadelphia, it gets its name because it is missing stars. Jacob Lipson of Heritage Auctions said earlier that starless coins are considered by collectors and institutions as “one-of-a-kind prototypes for the silver examples that would follow.” Known as a pattern, the front features the flowing hair portrait of …

Singer Matiu Walters grinned as he gazed out over 50,000 damp but delirious fans and said those magic words: “So, what’s up Eden Park?”While much of the world remains hunkered down, the band Six60 has been playing to huge crowds in New Zealand, where social distancing isn’t required after the nation stamped out the coronavirus. The band’s tour finale on Saturday night was billed as the largest concert in the world since the pandemic began.Equally momentous for a band which met while playing rugby at university was getting to play the first concert ever held at the storied Eden Park rugby stadium. And finding themselves at the apex of world music came as a twist for Six60, which has enjoyed unparalleled success in New Zealand but whose forays abroad have ended without the breakthroughs they sought.Saturday’s set by the five-piece band included powerful cameos by military musicians ahead of the nation honoring its war dead on Sunday, and Maori performers who stretched across the stage while the band switched to singing in the Indigenous language.One fan, Lucy Clumpas, found it a surreal experience to be surrounded by so many people after she spent last year living through endless lockdowns in …

Old machines are transformed into new robots in an exhibition that makes viewers think twice about the machines they use. VOA’s Elizabeth Lee has the details.  Camera: Roy Kim  Producer: Elizabeth Lee  …

Old machines are transformed into new robots in an exhibition that makes viewers think twice about the machines they use. VOA’s Elizabeth Lee has the details.  Camera: Roy Kim  Producer: Elizabeth Lee  …

Russian Olympic medal winners in Tokyo this year and at the 2022 Beijing Games will be serenaded by Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s music, the country’s Olympic committee said on Thursday, as their national anthem is banned because of doping offenses.Russian athletes are barred from competing at major international events, including the Olympics, under the country’s flag and with their anthem until 2022 following a ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) late last year.Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks at a gala concert of the winners of the 15th International Tchaikovsky Competition in the Grand Hall of the Moscow Conservatory in Moscow, July 2, 2015.The ban was designed to punish Moscow for providing global anti-doping authorities with doctored laboratory data that could have helped identify drug cheats.Stanislav Pozdnyakov, president of Russia’s Olympic Committee (ROC), said in a statement that the music used at medal ceremonies for Russians competing as representatives of ROC will be a fragment of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1.”As of today, our Olympic team has all the elements of its identity,” said Pozdnyakov, a five-time Olympic medalist in fencing.”We have the flag of the Russian Olympic Committee with the colors of our tricolor, our official equipment — easily …

Now that plans to create a European Super League comprising 12 of the continent’s elite clubs have collapsed, officials from the English, Italian and Spanish leagues are considering what to do in the aftermath.Six clubs from Britain (Liverpool, Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea), three from Spain (Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid) and three from Italy (AC Milan, Inter Milan and Juventus) signed up for the breakaway European Super League, whose formation was announced Monday.Hours after that announcement, however, several English teams announced they were no longer going to take part. The idea was completely dropped within 48 hours, driven largely by fan outrage.’Dirty dozen’Fans called the 12 teams in the Super League “the dirty dozen.” They were upset that teams would not have to win games to play in the league’s tournament — their places would be guaranteed. To play in the Champions League, teams must do well the year before.England’s Premier League is looking at possibly sanctioning club officials in the breakaway teams, The Associated Press reported. Officials are also looking at removing club executives from key league positions.The league could also consider expelling teams that try to break away.Tottenham fans protest the planned …

Greta Thunberg turned 18 in January, but she’s already made peace with her future: While most college students will change their concentrations multiple times, the Swedish high school student says climate change activism will be her life’s mission.”In a perfect world, there wouldn’t need to be a climate activist, but unfortunately, there will probably still be a need for climate activists for quite some time,” she said. “I think I will be doing this for as long as there is a need for people to do this.”Thunberg’s activism and message is brought to life in a new docuseries, Greta Thunberg: A Year to Change the World. The three-part series, a co-production between PBS and BBC Studios premiering Thursday on Earth Day, follows the then-16-year-old as she took a gap year from school in 2019 to meet with scientists around the world and spearhead awareness about climate change.The docuseries shows her visiting people and places that have been distinctly affected by the heating of the Earth, such as Canada’s Athabasca Glacier, a town in California burned by wildfires and the indigenous Sami herders in Sweden where reindeer face starvation. She even sails across the North Atlantic during the ocean’s busiest season …

Clare Egan is an American athlete who qualified for the 2022 U.S. Olympic Team. She competes in the biathalon, a sport that combines the winter survival skills of cross-country skiing with target shooting.As chair of the FILE – Amanda Kessel (28), of the United States, drives the puck against Russia’s Yelena Dergachyova (59) during the third period of a women’s hockey game at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Gangneung, South Korea, Feb. 13, 2018The quadrennial international games draw vast audiences. In 2018, 1.92 billion people — or 28% of the world’s population — watched the Winter Olympic Games in South Korea, held February 9-25, FILE – Republican Senator Mitt Romney speaks with members of the media on Capitol Hill in Washington, March 16, 2020.”Rather than send the traditional delegation of diplomats and White House officials to Beijing, the president should invite Chinese dissidents, religious leaders and ethnic minorities to represent us,” he wrote, adding that broadcasters such as NBC, “which has already done important work to reveal the reality of the Chinese Communist Party’s repression and brutality … can refrain from showing any jingoistic elements of the opening and closing ceremonies and instead broadcast documented reports of China’s abuses.”Although world events …

Queen Elizabeth II has expressed her thanks for all the “support and kindness” shown following the death of her husband, Prince Philip.   In a statement Wednesday posted on social media on her 95th birthday and which she personally signed off as Elizabeth R, the monarch said it has been “a comfort” to “see and to hear all the tributes to my husband” from within the U.K., the Commonwealth and around the world. “My family and I would like to thank you all for the support and kindness shown to us in recent days,” she said in her first remarks since Philip’s funeral on Saturday. “We have been deeply touched, and continue to be reminded that Philip had such an extraordinary impact on countless people throughout his life,” she added. The queen said she had received “many messages of good wishes” for her 95th birthday, which she “very much” appreciated. She is marking her birthday in a low-key fashion at Windsor Castle. Some members of the royal family are expected to be with her on Wednesday. Her birthday falls within the two-week royal mourning period for Philip that is being observed until Friday. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was one …

A new Nigerian art gallery opened in Los Angeles this year reflecting a growing international interest in contemporary African art. VOA’s Elizabeth Lee has the details.Camera: Roy Kim, Rodmy Dorcil, Michelle Quinn    …

Juventus, Atlético Madrid, AC Milan and Inter Milan announced Wednesday they were dropping out of the Super League of 12 leading European football clubs.The development followed the Tuesday withdrawal of six British teams that were part of the project launched this week.Four other teams were included in Sunday’s announcement of the breakaway competition that drew sharp criticism from players, fans and football authorities.Juventus chairman Andrea Agnelli said Wednesday that the league can no longer proceed.”I remain convinced of the beauty of that project,” Agnelli told Reuters, saying it would have been the best competition in the world. “But admittedly … I mean, I don’t think that that project is now still up and running.”Clubs yet to announce their withdrawal Wednesday were Barcelona and Real Madrid.Liverpool principal owner John Henry used a video on the team’s website to apologize Wednesday, saying the project “was never going to stand without the support of the fans.” …