Hideki Matsuyama won the 85th Masters in dramatic fashion Sunday, holding off Xander Schauffele to become the first Japanese man to capture a major golf title.Carrying the hopes of a nation on his shoulders, Matsuyama calmly grinded out clutch pars and struck for crucial birdies in a pressure-packed march at Augusta National, hanging on over the final holes for a historic one-stroke victory.Matsuyama took the green jacket symbolic of Masters supremacy, a top prize of $2.07 million (1.74 million euros) and a place for the ages in Japanese sports history.”I’m really happy,” he said through a translator. “Hopefully I’ll be a pioneer in this and many other Japanese will follow. I’m happy to open the floodgate and many more will follow me.”After seeing his seven-stroke lead with seven holes remaining shaved to two shots with three to go, Matsuyama watched Schauffele’s ball end up in the water off the 16th tee on the way to a triple-bogey disaster.”I felt like I gave him a little bit of a run and made a little bit of excitement for the tournament until I met a watery grave there,” Schauffele said. “I’ll be able to sleep tonight. It might be hard but I’ll …

U.S. recession drama “Nomadland,” about a community of van dwellers, was the big winner at Britain’s BAFTA awards on Sunday, scooping best film and prizes for its Chinese-born director Chloe Zhao and leading actress Frances McDormand.The British Academy of Film and Television Arts ceremony was held virtually over two nights, with nominees joining in by video, because of the COVID-19 pandemic.However, film stars Hugh Grant and Priyanka Chopra Jonas appeared in person at London’s Royal Albert Hall while Renee Zellweger and Anna Kendrick joined from a Los Angeles studio to present the awards.”Nomadland,” which has already picked up prizes this awards season, stars 63-year-old McDormand as a widow, who in the wake of the U.S. economic recession, turns her van into a mobile home and sets out on the road, taking on seasonal jobs along the way.”We would like to dedicate this award to the nomadic community who so generously welcomed us into their lives,” Zhao, who won the director category, said in her acceptance speech.”Thank you for showing us that aging is a beautiful part of life, a journey that we should all cherish and celebrate. How we treat our elders says a lot about who we are as …

A Hollywood fantasy turned into reality Saturday when Rachael Blackmore became the first female jockey to win Britain’s grueling Grand National horse race, breaking one of the biggest gender barriers in sports. Blackmore, a 31-year-old Irishwoman, rode Minella Times to victory at odds of 11-1 in the 173rd edition of the famous steeplechase at Aintree in Liverpool, northwest England “I don’t feel male or female right now. I don’t even feel human,” Blackmore said. “This is just unbelievable.” Blackmore is the 20th female jockey to compete in a race that has been a mud-splattered British sporting institution since 1839. Women have been allowed to enter the National as jockeys since 1975. “I never even imagined I’d get a ride in this race, never mind get my hands on the trophy,” Blackmore said. In the 1944 Hollywood movie “National Velvet,” a 12-year-old girl, Velvet Brown — played by a young Elizabeth Taylor — won the Grand National on The Pie, a gelding she won in a raffle and decided to train for the world’s biggest horse race. In the story, Brown was later disqualified on a technicality, having dismounted before reaching the enclosure. Even though Aintree was without racegoers because of the coronavirus pandemic, cheers rang out …

DMX, the raspy-voiced hip-hop artist who produced the songs “Ruff Ryders’ Anthem” and “Party Up (Up in Here)” and who rapped with a trademark delivery that was often paired with growls, barks and “What!” as an ad-lib, has died, according to a statement from his family. He was 50. The Grammy-nominated performer died after suffering “catastrophic cardiac arrest,” according to the hospital in White Plains, New York, where he died. He was rushed there from his home April 2. A statement from relatives said he died “with his family by his side after being placed on life support for the past few days.” The rapper, whose real name is Earl Simmons, had struggled with drug addiction since his teenage years. His lawyer, Murray Richman, had earlier said he could not confirm reports that DMX overdosed.   DMX made a splash in rap music in 1998 with his first studio album, “It’s Dark and Hell is Hot,” which debuted No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. The multiplatinum-selling album was anchored by several hits including “Ruff Ryders’ Anthem,” “Get At Me Dog,” “Stop Being Greedy” and “How It’s Goin’ Down.” DMX followed up with four straight chart-topping albums including “… …

Prince Philip, the Greek-born consort to Queen Elizabeth, Britain’s longest sitting monarch, has died at the age of 99. The Duke of Edinburgh is best remembered for his sense of duty to the queen, and also his sense of humor. Henry Ridgwell reports for VOA from London. …

Prince Philip, the Greek-born consort to Queen Elizabeth, Britain’s longest sitting monarch, has died at the age of 99.     In a statement released to the media and posted on the gates of Buckingham Palace Friday morning, the royal family said, “It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty The Queen has announced the death of her beloved husband, His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.”   “His Royal Highness passed away peacefully this morning at Windsor Castle. Further announcements will be made in due course. The Royal Family join with people around the world in mourning his loss.”It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty The Queen has announced the death of her beloved husband, His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. His Royal Highness passed away peacefully this morning at Windsor Castle. pic.twitter.com/XOIDQqlFPn— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) April 9, 2021Prince Philip had spent several weeks in the hospital earlier this year for a pre-existing heart condition. He underwent surgery at London’s St. Bartholomew’s Hospital and was discharged in March.   The Duke of Edinburgh will be best remembered for his sense of duty to the queen, and also his sense of humor.   …

The cement skeleton of the unfinished Eyyub Sultan mosque in France’s eastern city of Strasbourg has become a repository for myriad grievances, ranging from local partisan wrangling to longstanding friction between Islam and this country’s staunchly secular creed.The grievances also reflect mounting fears within the European Union about Turkey’s growing international influence.Claiming concern over foreign — and specifically Turkish — meddling, a top French official launched legal proceedings this week against a decision by Strasbourg’s leftist government to subsidize the construction of the mosque, designed to be Europe’s largest.The move coincided with a rare visit by EU leaders to Ankara, where efforts to patch up longstanding differences were overshadowed by a seating spat.Underpinning both issues, analysts say, is the EU’s reliance on Turkey as a bulwark against another massive refugee influx — a reality underpinning a multibillion-dollar migrant deal with Turkey in 2016 which limits the bloc’s muscle-flexing options today.The EU nations “need Turkey — if Turkey opens its borders what will happen?” asked Muslim specialist Erkan Toguslu, a lecturer at KU Leuven University, even as he warned about Ankara’s growing influence in the region, spread through its nationalist brand of Islam.FILE – French President Emmanuel Macron delivers a press …

Pop star The Weeknd has announced he will be donating $1 million to relief efforts in Ethiopia amid the country’s ongoing conflict in the Tigray region.A U.N. statement said his donation, the equivalent of 2 million meals, went to World Food Program USA, the U.S. affiliate of the United Nations World Food Program, and will be put towards providing lifesaving food for those affected.”My heart breaks for my people of Ethiopia as innocent civilians ranging from small children to the elderly are being senselessly murdered and entire villages are being displaced out of fear and destruction,” wrote the Super Bowl half-time singer on Instagram Sunday.The Weeknd, born Abel Makkonen Tesfaye, is the son of Ethiopian immigrants Makkonen and Samra Tesfaye.The conflict in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region broke out in November when Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) fighters attacked army bases in the region, prompting Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed to launch a military offensive to push the group out.Since then, thousands of civilians in the region have been killed and hundreds of thousands have been displaced from their homes.The Ethiopian government now estimates 4.5 million people are in need of emergency food assistance and have asked the U.N. World Food Program …

Ever since the pandemic lockdown began in the U.S. in March 2020, the pet adoption business has been booming.  But trend hasn’t just been good for the animals. Lesia Bakalets has the story, narrated by Anna Rice.Camera: Andrey Degtyarev      …

Tara VanDerveer hugged each of her Stanford players as they climbed the ladder to cut down the nets, capping a taxing whirlwind journey and ending an exhaustive women’s college basketball championship drought for the Cardinal. It took 29 years, that included 10 weeks on the road this season because of the coronavirus, for VanDerveer and the Cardinal to be crowned the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) women’s basketball champions again.  “We had some special karma going for us,” VanDerveer said. “Sometimes you have to be lucky. I’ll admit it, we were very fortunate to win.” Haley Jones scored 17 points and Stanford beat Arizona 54-53 Sunday night, giving the Cardinal and their Hall of Fame coach their first national championship since 1992. “Getting through all the things we got through, we’re excited to win the COVID championship,” VanDerveer said. “The other one was not quite as close, the last one. But we are really excited. No one knows the score, no one knows who scored, it’s a national championship.”Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer cuts down the net after the championship game against Arizona in the women’s Final Four NCAA college basketball tournament, Sunday, April 4, 2021, at the Alamodome in San Antonio. Stanford won 54-53.It was not a masterpiece by any stretch with both teams struggling to score and missing easy layups and shots, but Stanford did just enough …

A new documentary on Ernest Hemingway — powered by vast but little-known archives kept at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston — is shedding new light on the acclaimed novelist.”Hemingway,” by longtime collaborators Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, premiering on PBS on three consecutive nights starting April 5, takes a more nuanced look at the author and his longstanding reputation as an alcoholic, adventurer, outdoorsman and bullfight-loving misogynist who struggled with an internal turmoil that eventually led to his death by suicide at age 61.The truth about the man many consider America’s greatest 20th-century novelist — whose concise writing style made him an outsized celebrity who became a symbol of unrepentant American masculinity — is much more complex, Novick said.”We hope this film opens up opportunities to look at Hemingway in different ways,” said Novick, who has created several other documentaries with Burns including “The Vietnam War” and “Prohibition.” “There is a complexity beneath the surface.”That complexity would have been nearly impossible to detail without the largest-in-the-world Hemingway collection that ended up at the JFK Library, thanks to the widows of Hemingway and Kennedy.Although the two men never met, they admired each other and corresponded briefly. …

Green-Wood Cemetery in New York – one of the oldest and largest American cemeteries – now has its own artist-in-resident.  Anna Nelson tells us more in this report narrated by Anna Rice.Camera: Vladimir Badikov  …

Nine-year-old Nadja Pivoff from Boston, Massachusetts, has been drawing since she could hold a pencil.  It’s been especially important to her during the COVID lockdown, as Genia Dulot reports from Boston. Camera: Genia Dulot …

A grand parade Saturday conveyed 22 ancient Egyptian royal mummies in special capsules across Cairo to a new museum home where they can be displayed in greater splendor.The convoy transported 18 kings and four queens, mostly from the New Kingdom, from the Egyptian Museum in central Cairo’s Tahrir Square to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in Fustat, about 5 kilometers (3 miles) to the southeast.FILE – The entrance to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in Cairo is pictured Oct. 1, 2019. The mummies of 18 ancient Egyptian kings and four queens were paraded through the streets of Cairo to the National Museum on April 3, 2021.Authorities shut down roads along the Nile for the elaborate ceremony, designed to drum up interest in Egypt’s rich collections of antiquities. Tourism has almost entirely stalled because of COVID-19 related restrictions.As the royal mummies arrived at the museum, which was officially inaugurated Saturday, cannons fired a 21-gun salute. President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi stood by as the mummies filed past on vehicles bedecked with golden pharaonic motifs.The heads of the U.N. cultural agency UNESCO and the World Tourism Organization were also present at the ceremony.Each mummy had been placed in a special capsule filled …

A grand parade will convey 22 ancient Egyptian royal mummies in specially designed capsules across the capital Cairo on Saturday to a new museum home where they can be displayed in greater splendor.The convoy will transport 18 kings and four queens, mostly from the New Kingdom, from the Egyptian Museum in central Cairo’s Tahrir Square to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in Fustat, about 5 kilometers to the southeast.Authorities are shutting down roads along the Nile for the elaborate ceremony, designed to drum up interest in Egypt’s rich collections of antiquities when tourism has almost entirely stalled because of COVID-19 related restrictions.Each mummy will be placed in a special capsule filled with nitrogen to ensure protection, and the capsules will be carried on carts designed to cradle them and provide stability, Egyptian archaeologist Zahi Hawass said.“We chose the Civilization Museum because we want, for the first time, to display the mummies in a civilized manner, an educated manner, and not for amusement as they were in the Egyptian Museum,” he said.Workers prepare for the transfer of 22 mummies from the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in Fustat, in Cairo, Egypt, April 1, 2021.Archaeologists …

A grand parade will convey 22 ancient Egyptian royal mummies in specially designed capsules across the capital Cairo on Saturday to a new museum home where they can be displayed in greater splendor.The convoy will transport 18 kings and four queens, mostly from the New Kingdom, from the Egyptian Museum in central Cairo’s Tahrir Square to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in Fustat, about 5 kilometers to the southeast.Authorities are shutting down roads along the Nile for the elaborate ceremony, designed to drum up interest in Egypt’s rich collections of antiquities when tourism has almost entirely stalled because of COVID-19 related restrictions.Each mummy will be placed in a special capsule filled with nitrogen to ensure protection, and the capsules will be carried on carts designed to cradle them and provide stability, Egyptian archaeologist Zahi Hawass said.“We chose the Civilization Museum because we want, for the first time, to display the mummies in a civilized manner, an educated manner, and not for amusement as they were in the Egyptian Museum,” he said.Archaeologists discovered the mummies in two batches at the complex of mortuary temples of Deir Al Bahari in Luxor and at the nearby Valley of the Kings from 1871.The …

Major League Baseball announced Friday it was moving this summer’s All-Star Game from Atlanta’s Truist Park, a response to Georgia enacting a new law last month restricting voting rights.MLB had awarded the game to Atlanta in May 2019 and the game was scheduled for July 13 as part of baseball’s midsummer break that includes the Futures Game on July 11 and Home Run Derby the following night.FILE – Cardboard cutouts of fans in the otherwise empty seats at Truist Park face the field during the sixth inning of a game between Atlanta and visiting Tampa Bay, July 30, 2020.Commissioner Rob Manfred made the decision to move the All-Star events and the amateur draft, which had been scheduled to be held in Atlanta for the first time. A new ballpark for this year’s events wasn’t immediately revealed.MLB’s announcement came eight days after Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed a sweeping Republican-sponsored overhaul of state elections that includes new restrictions on voting by mail and greater legislative control over how elections are run.Manfred made the decision after discussions with the Major League Baseball Players Association, individual players and the Players Alliance, an organization of Black players formed after the death of George Floyd …

“Boogie,” a recent film by Chinese American filmmaker Eddie Huang, addresses stereotypes Asian people face in the United States. Lead actor Taylor Takahashi spoke with VOA’s Penelope Poulou about his film character and Asian representation in the film. Camera: Penelope Poulou      Producer: Penelope Poulou …

“Boogie,” a recent film by Chinese American filmmaker Eddie Huang, addresses stereotypes Asian people face in the United States. Lead actor Taylor Takahashi spoke with VOA’s Penelope Poulou about his film character and Asian representation in the film. Camera: Penelope Poulou      Producer: Penelope Poulou …

“Boogie,” a recent film by Chinese American filmmaker Eddie Huang, addresses stereotypes Asian people face in the United States. Lead actor Taylor Takahashi spoke with VOA’s Penelope Poulou about his film character and Asian representation in the film. Camera: Penelope Poulou      Producer: Penelope Poulou …

Pope Francis celebrated a surprise Holy Thursday Mass with the cardinal he fired last year, extending an extraordinary gesture to Cardinal Angelo Becciu by celebrating the liturgy that commemorates Jesus’ Last Supper with his apostles before his crucifixion.News of the celebration in Becciu’s private chapel was confirmed by Becciu’s private secretary. In addition, a longtime friend who was in contact with Becciu after the papal visit said the cardinal was “very happy” with the meeting. A Vatican official said he couldn’t confirm Francis’ private initiative but added that “such a gesture of paternity doesn’t seem strange on a day like today, Holy Thursday.”The visit carried enormous symbolic weight and could suggest Francis may have come to realize he had erred in his handling of the Becciu dossier. Francis has long prized the Holy Thursday service as a ritual of repentance and service.Francis forced Becciu’s resignation on September 24, apparently acting on allegations, contained in a yet-to-be-published article in the Italian newsmagazine l’Espresso, that Becciu had sent 100,000 euros in Holy See funds to a diocesan charity controlled by his brother.Becciu admitted he sent the funds to the charity — not his brother — and told reporters he had done nothing …

Easter is one of the busier holidays for local florists in the United States, with families ordering spring blooms for their gatherings with loved ones. Esha Sarai speaks with a flower farmer and florist in Marshall, North Carolina about their best-selling products this time of year.Camera:  Esha Sarai Produced by:  Esha Sarai   …

The record-breaking sale of a digital artwork in March is part of a rush to invest in previously unmarketable things like basketball highlights, video game art, and even tweets. Making it possible are NFTs or Non-Fungible Tokens. Matt Dibble explains. …

For many parents one good thing about grown kids moving out is the opportunity to focus on personal hobbies.  VOA’s Maria Iman-Santoso tells of one woman whose hobby benefits others. Dhania Iman narrates the story.Camera: Maria Iman-Santoso  Producer:  Jon Spier  …