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Former world No. 1 tennis player, Naomi Osaka pulled out of Wimbledon for the second successive year Saturday, blaming an Achilles injury. “My Achilles still isn’t right, so I’ll see you next time,” the four-time Grand Slam title winner posted on Twitter. Osaka, 24, was already considering not playing over the ATP and WTA tours decision to strip Wimbledon of ranking points after the All England Club banned Russian and Belarusian players in response to the invasion of Ukraine. Osaka’s tweet, although not mentioning Wimbledon specifically, was accompanied by a photo of herself on a grass court, and an emoji of a blade of grass. “Wishing you a speedy return to full fitness, @naomiosaka,” tweeted the Wimbledon tournament in response. The Japanese player first suffered the Achilles problem in her opening match in Madrid in May, the injury forcing her to pull out of the following Italian Open. This month she posted a video of a training exercise on social media accompanied by the caption: “Here’s me running on an underwater treadmill because my Achilles is being stubborn still I must be aging or something.” Osaka’s name had appeared on the singles entry list for Wimbledon when it was released …

After two days of deliberations in which they reached verdicts on nearly all of the questions put before them, jurors in a civil trial who were deciding on sexual abuse allegations against Bill Cosby will have to start from scratch on Monday. By the end of the court day Friday, the Los Angeles County jury had come to agreement on whether Cosby had sexually assaulted plaintiff Judy Huth at the Playboy Mansion when she was 16 in 1975, and whether Huth deserved any damages. In all they had answered eight of nine questions on their verdict form, all but one that asked whether Cosby acted in a way that should require punitive damages. Judge Craig Karlan, who had promised one juror when she agreed to serve that she could leave after Friday for a prior commitment, decided over the objections of Cosby’s attorneys to accept and read the verdict on the questions the jury had answered. But he had to change course when deputies at the Santa Monica Courthouse appeared and required him to clear the courtroom. The courthouse has a required closure time of 4:30 p.m. because of no budget for deputies’ overtime. Karlan refused to require the departing …

The price of bitcoin fell below $20,000 Saturday for the first time since late 2020, in a fresh sign that the sell-off in cryptocurrencies is deepening.  Bitcoin, the most popular cryptocurrency, fell below the psychologically important threshold, dropping by as much as 9% to less than $19,000 and hovering around that mark, according to the cryptocurrency news site CoinDesk.  The last time bitcoin was at that level was in November 2020, when it was on its way up to its all-time high of nearly $69,000, according to CoinDesk. Many in the industry had believed it would not fall under $20,000.  Bitcoin has now lost more than 70% of its value since reaching that peak.  Ethereum, another widely followed cryptocurrency that’s been sliding in recent weeks, took a similar tumble Saturday.  It’s the latest sign of turmoil in the cryptocurrency industry amid wider turbulence in financial markets. Investors are selling off riskier assets because central banks are raising interest rates to combat quickening inflation.  The overall market value of cryptocurrency assets has fallen from $3 trillion to below $1 trillion, according to coinmarketcap.com, a company that tracks crypto prices. On Saturday, the company’s data showed crypto’s global market value stood at …

The dogs get the spotlight, but the upcoming Westminster Kennel Club show is also illuminating a human issue: veterinarians’ mental health. In conjunction with a first-time Veterinarian of the Year award that will be presented on the show’s final day Wednesday, the club is giving $10,000 to a charity focused on veterinary professionals’ psychological welfare. It’s new emotional territory for the 145-year-old event at a point when the coronavirus pandemic, and a changing culture, have bared the internal struggles of people from schoolchildren to health care workers to college athletes and professional sports stars.  For veterinarians, too, the pandemic added new strains — wrung-out clients, soaring caseloads and more — and amplified long-standing ones. “We love what we do, and there’s a certain mystique about working with animals — a lot of people think we play with puppies all day long. But there’s a lot behind this,” said American Veterinary Medicine Association President José Arce of San Juan, Puerto Rico. He hopes Westminster’s award will educate people about vets’ well-being. The show began with an agility competition Saturday and continues Monday through Wednesday, with the best in show prize awarded live on Fox Sports’ FS1 channel Wednesday night. For the …

A gnawing uncertainty hung over the Yellowstone National Park gateway town of Gardiner this week following unprecedented flooding that shut down one of America’s most beloved natural attractions and swept away roads, bridges and homes. Gardiner itself escaped the flooding but briefly became home to hundreds of park visitors stranded when the road leading into it was closed along the surging Yellowstone River. When the road reopened, the tourists vanished. “Town is eerie right now,” said Katie Gale, who does booking for a company that offers rafting and other outdoor trips. “We had all those folks trapped in here, and then as soon as they opened the road … it was just like someone just pulled the plug in a bathtub.” That draining of visitors has become a major concern for businesses in towns such as Gardiner and Red Lodge that lead to Yellowstone’s northern entrances and rely on tourists passing through. Officials have said the park’s southern part, which features Old Faithful, could reopen as soon as next week. But the north end, which includes Tower Fall and the bears and wolves of Lamar Valley, could stay closed for months after sections of major roads inside Yellowstone were washed …

For many Hong Kongers, their city has always been distinct from China. Government, laws, language, schooling, cuisine, culture, outlook — you name it, all different. And that sense, coupled with continuing political changes, propelled many Hong Kongers to emigrate after the 2019 pro-democracy protests when Beijing implemented the far-reaching Hong Kong version of China’s National Security Law. Even in the law that tightens Beijing’s control over the former British colony, Hong Kong is different. Belle, an artist, left Hong Kong for New York last year. Her work is now part of show called “Wandering Hong Kong” mounted by the Lion Rock Cafe in lower Manhattan near Chinatown. The exhibition, which runs through Sunday at the Sohotel pop-up space on Broome Street, explores what it means to be “wandering” — defined as “a life with no place to settle down, needing to move around” in promotional material. An art teacher and full-time artist in Hong Kong, Belle met her boyfriend during the 2019 Hong Kong protests. “But as the movement went on, we realized there are concerns, there is something there that we cannot draw. Or we can draw it, but we cannot show it. So, what’s the point? That just …

Music is truly a magical, universal language: one that students in a South African township outside of Johannesburg are learning. Romain Chanson reports for VOA in this story, narrated by Carol Guensburg. …

The Golden State Warriors triumphed over the Boston Celtics on Thursday with a 103-90 victory in Game Six of the NBA Finals in Boston, marking the fourth time the Warriors have won the trophy in eight years. The Warriors’ victory came just two seasons after finishing at the bottom of the league, following injuries to star players Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. Curry and Thompson were at the top of their game Thursday, however, with Curry scoring 34 points, while Thompson scored 12 points on 5 of 20 shooting in the championship finale. The two players hugged each other at the final bell. Draymond Green also contributed to the Warriors win with 12 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists. The Celtics Jaylen Brown scored 34 points and teammate Al Horford scored 19 with 14 rebounds. Meanwhile, their Celtics teammate Jayson Tatum was held to 13 points on 6 of 18 shooting. The Celtics last won the NBA title in 2008. …

The 16 cities of the first World Cup spread across three nations were revealed, and FIFA President Gianni Infantino made a bold statement summing up the goal of the 2026 tournament, to be played largely in the United States. “By 2026, futbol — soccer — will be the No. 1 sport in this country,” he proclaimed. Roughly four years before soccer’s showcase comes to the U.S., Mexico and Canada, there already were winners and losers Thursday: Atlanta, Houston, Miami, Philadelphia, Seattle and Kansas City, Missouri, were picked after missing out on hosting the 1994 tournament. Baltimore, Cincinnati, Denver, Nashville, Tennessee, and Orlando, Florida, missed the cut. Arlington, Texas; East Rutherford, New Jersey; Foxborough, Massachusetts, and Inglewood and Santa Clara, California, were the holdover areas from the 1994 tournament that boosted soccer’s American prominence. Mexico City’s Estadio Azteca, which hosted the 1970 and ’86 finals and will become the first stadium in three World Cups, was selected along with Guadalajara’s Estadio Akron and Monterrey’s Estadio BBVA. Toronto’s BMO Field and Vancouver, British Columbia’s B.C. Place were picked while Edmonton, Alberta’s Commonwealth Stadium was dropped. Following the withdrawal of the outmoded FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland, Baltimore’s omission means this will be …

Citing “concern about holding individual athletes accountable for the actions and decisions of their governments,” the U.S. Tennis Association will let Russian and Belarusian tennis players participate in the U.S. Open later this summer. Wimbledon will still maintain the ban on those athletes, which will include the world’s No. 1 player, Daniil Medvedev. Medvedev is the defending U.S. Open champion. Wimbledon starts June 27 in England. The U.S. Open starts August 29 in New York. Players from Russia and Belarus will participate under a neutral flag. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, Russian athletes have been banned from competing in a variety of sports, including soccer’s World Cup qualifying playoffs. Some information in this report comes from The Associated Press and Reuters. …

Growing up in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Bismack Biyombo dreamed of playing professional basketball in the United States. His dream has been reality ever since he was drafted into the NBA more than a decade ago. But what he’s doing off the court gives a notable assist to his home country. The 29-year-old center for Arizona’s Phoenix Suns calls himself “a child of Africa” who “stepped onto a basketball court at the age of 13 in Lubumbashi,” a major city in southeastern DRC. “And I was lucky enough to have, you know, parents that supported me,” he told VOA in an interview at the Suns’ practice facility earlier this spring. Biyombo credits his father Francois Biyombo and mother Françoise Ngoy with nurturing a spirit of purpose and generosity. They sacrificed to ensure that the eldest of their seven children could play basketball, including when he went to Yemen at 16 to try out for a local team, and later when he joined a club league in Spain. After Biyombo was drafted into the NBA in 2011, they encouraged his giving back. He has. Bismack Biyombo has donated time and millions of dollars to support education and health care in …

About 5 million Ukrainian refugees have fled to other parts of Europe since Russia’s assault on their homeland began in February. Among them: nearly three dozen dancers from the Kyiv City Ballet. They’ve found refuge in Paris and continue to perform and plan foreign tours, but the conflict is never far away. For VOA, Lisa Bryant has more from Paris. …

A startup professional golf tour backed by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund has roiled the usually staid world of professional golf — the PGA Tour — in the United States. The PGA suspended 17 professional players last week for participating in the inaugural Saudi tournament, which began June 9. The new tour, the LIV Golf Invitational Series, has caused controversy for months, in large part because critics of the Saudi regime’s policies claimed it was a way to launder the reputation of the country’s monarchy, particularly that of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The crown prince has been held in disrepute internationally since at least 2018, when agents of his government allegedly assassinated journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi embassy in Istanbul and dismembered his body to hide the evidence. The CIA later concluded that Salman ordered the killing. U.S. President Joe Biden, who, as a candidate in 2019, declared that Saudi Arabia should be considered a “pariah” state based on its record of human rights abuses, including the Khashoggi killing, is currently attempting a rapprochement with the Saudi regime. He is expected to visit Riyadh in July. A new approach The Roman numerals in the new tour’s name — …

June is Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Pride Month. In the Western U.S. state of Colorado, multimedia artists are exploring the intersections of gender identity and disability. VOA’s Scott Stearns has the story from Denver. WARNING: The video contains a brief depiction of nudity. …

“A Strange Loop,” an irreverent, sexually frank work about Blackness and queerness took home the best new musical crown at the Tony Awards on Sunday, as voters celebrated Broadway’s most racially diverse season by choosing an envelope-pushing Black voice. Michael R. Jackson’s 2020 Pulitzer Prize drama winner is a theater meta-journey — a tuneful show about a Black gay man writing a show about a Black gay man. Jackson also won for best book. Many of the night’s other Tonys were spread over several productions. The victory of a smaller, more offbeat musical against more commercial offerings continues a recent trend, as when the intimate musical “The Band’s Visit” beat the big brand-musicals “Frozen,” “Mean Girls” and “SpongeBob SquarePants” in 2018 or when “Hadestown” bested “Tootsie,” “Beetlejuice” and “Ain’t Too Proud” a year later. “A Strange Loop” beat “MJ,” a bio musical of the King of Pop’s biggest hits, for the top prize, although the other Jackson musical nabbed four Tony Awards including for best choreography. Myles Frost moonwalked away with the award for best lead actor in a musical for playing Michael Jackson, becoming the youngest solo winner in that category. “Mom, I made it!” he said. “MJ” represents …

Darren Criss and Julianne Hough kicked off the four-hour Tony Award celebrations at Radio City Music Hall on Sunday night, handing out mostly design awards exclusively on the streaming Paramount+.  Criss opened the telecast with the original song, “Set the Stage,” as he and Hough energetically danced up ladders, on laundry hampers and in sliding theater seats to celebrate the artists who keep theater alive.  The first award of the night — for best score — went to “Six: The Musical,” with music and lyrics by Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss. Marlow is the first out nonbinary composer-lyricist to win a Tony.  Criss and Hough have an hour to hand out a total of eight technical awards for things such as best lighting and sound design, along with best score, orchestrations and choreography. They will then pass hosting duties to Ariana DeBose for the main three-hour telecast on CBS and Paramount+ from the same stage, live coast to coast for the first time.  The season — with 34 new productions — represents a full return to theaters after nearly two years of a pandemic-mandated shutdown. At the last Tonys nine months ago, the winners were pulled from just 18 eligible …

An exhibition at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art is showcasing a sculpture of a Hindu god that was carved into a Cambodian mountain around year 600. VOA’s Chetra Chap reports on the importance of this Hindu sculpture to a nation that is now primarily Buddhist. …

Favorite Mo Donegal romped to victory at the 154th Belmont Stakes on Saturday while Rich Strike, the longshot winner of the Kentucky Derby could not pull off another surprise at Elmont, New York.  Mo Donegal, fifth at the Kentucky Derby, settled in midpack for much of the mile-and-a-half race then made his move coming onto the home stretch.  Under jockey Irad Ortiz Jr.’s urging Mo Donegal powered away from the field coming home ahead of stable mate Nest to give trainer Todd Pletcher a 1-2 finish and a fourth Belmont win.  Skippylongstocking finished third.  “This has been a dream I’ve had for 40 years,” said Mo Donegal owner Mike Repole, a native New Yorker. “This is New York’s biggest race, and to win it here, with family, friends, I’m sort of overwhelmed.”  Rich Strike had given up a shot at the Triple Crown when owner Rick Dawson decided to skip the second jewel, the Preakness Stakes, in order to rest the chestnut colt for the Belmont marathon known as the “test of a champion.”  At 80-1 odds Rich Strike was one of the greatest longshots to win the Kentucky Derby but no one was overlooking the chestnut colt on Saturday …

Although the war in Ukraine has entered its fourth month, local artists have not stopped working. For many Ukrainians, art during the wartime is a powerful tool that helps people stay strong and inspired. Omelyan Oshchudlyak has the story. Video Editor: Yuriy Dankevych …

British prosecutors said on Wednesday they had authorized charges to be brought against former Hollywood movie producer Harvey Weinstein on two counts of indecent assault against a woman 26 years ago. “Charges have been authorized against Harvey Weinstein, 70, following a review of the evidence gathered by the Metropolitan Police in its investigation,” Rosemary Ainslie, head of the Crown Prosecution Service’s (CPS) Special Crime Division. The CPS said the alleged assault took place in August 1996 in London. London’s Metropolitan Police said the accusation involved a woman, now aged in her 50s. Weinstein is currently serving a 23-year prison sentence in the United States after being convicted in 2020 of assaulting former production assistant Mimi Haleyi and raping former aspiring actor Jessica Mann. That conviction was upheld by a New York appeals court last week. The verdict was considered a landmark in the #MeToo movement where women came forward to accuse dozens of powerful men of sexual misconduct. Many view the accusations against Weinstein, which surfaced in 2017, as the key spark for that movement. “The Crown Prosecution Service reminds all concerned that criminal proceedings against the defendant are active and that he has the right to a fair trial,” …

The stars of the new Saudi-funded golf league tried to fend off concerns on Tuesday about human rights abuses and signing up to accept hundreds of millions of dollars, despite the risk of being banned from long-standing events.  After announcing he quit the PGA Tour to join the LIV Golf series, Dustin Johnson evaded questioning about the source of the $25 million prize fund for each event flowing from Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund. The first LIV Golf Invitational is taking place outside London from Thursday.  Another former major winner — Graeme McDowell — was left at a news conference trying to publicly reconcile causing fractures in golf by signing for the rebel series that appears to be part of Saudi Arabia’s attempt to reshape its image as a backer of lavish sports events rather than one associated with human rights abuses.  The Northern Irish golfer, who won the U.S. Open and Ryder Cup in 2010, did bring up the 2018 murder of Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul as a legitimate area of concern of joining a series he accepts is “incredibly polarizing” for the sport.  “Take the Khashoggi situation,” he said. “We all agree that’s reprehensible. …

No 15-year-old figure skaters will be allowed to compete at the 2026 Olympics following the controversy surrounding Russian national champion Kamila Valieva at this year’s Beijing Games. A new age limit for figure skaters at senior international events was passed Tuesday by the International Skating Union in a 110-16 vote that will raise the minimum age to 17 before the next Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. “This is a very important decision,” ISU president Jan Dijkema said. “I would say a very historic decision.” The limit will be phased in with 15-year-olds continuing to be allowed to compete next season, a minimum age of 16 in the 2023-24 season, rising to 17 the season after, which is the last before the Olympics. The ISU said the new rule was “for the sake of protecting the physical and mental health, and emotional well-being of the skaters.” It should disrupt the career of top Russian junior Sofia Akateva, who is 14. Her birthday in July falls days after the July 1 deadline to classify skaters’ ages for the upcoming season, though for the 2026 Olympics she will be 18 and able to compete. The change was coming even before figure skating …

At a lunch for Tony Award nominees last month, veteran theater producer Ron Simons looked around and smiled. It seemed appropriate that the gathering was held at The Rainbow Room.  “I can guarantee you I have not seen this many people of color represented across all categories of the Tony Awards,” he recalled. “It was a diverse room. I was so uplifted and impressed by that.”  For the first full season since the death of George Floyd reignited a conversation about race and representation in America, Broadway responded with one of its most diverse Tony slates yet.  Multiple Black artists were nominated in every single performance category, including three of five featured actors in a musical, four of six featured actresses in a play, two of seven leading actors in a play and three of five leading actresses in a play. There are 16 Black performance nods out of 33 slots — a very healthy 48%.  By comparison, at the 2016 Tonys — the breakout season that included the diverse “Hamilton,” “Eclipsed” and “The Color Purple” revival — 14 of the 40 acting nominees for plays and musicals or 35% were actors of color.  “Let’s hope that the diversity that …

 Jennifer Lopez made an emotional speech about how believers and skeptics contributed to her success as she accepted a career achievement honor at the MTV Movie & TV Awards on Sunday.  “I want to thank the people who gave me joy and the ones who broke my heart — the ones who were true and the ones who lied to me,” said Lopez, who nabbed this year’s Generation Award for actors whose diverse contributions have made them household names. She also took home best song — a new category — for the track “On My Way” from the “Marry Me” soundtrack.  MTV’s youth-focused celebration of film and TV offered a lighter, breezier awards show with 26 categories in gender-neutral categories such as best villain, best kiss and new category “here for the hookup.” Hosted by Vanessa Hudgens, the ceremony returned to a live format after being pre-recorded for several years.  Lopez shed tears as she thanked fans, her longtime manager and children for “teaching me to love,” bringing the audience to their feet at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, California.  “I want to thank the people who gave me this life,” said Lopez, 52, later adding, “You’re only as …