Drumming Recalls Centuries-old Link Between Caribbean, Africa

Gail Wein

Throughout the ages and around the globe, drumming has been used for communication, entertainment, and prayer. That is especially true for the Rastafarians who performed at this year's Sacred Music Festival in Jerusalem.

If you haven’t heard of Nyabinghi drumming, you are not alone. It is sacred music, played as a communal meditative practice in the Rastafarian religion of Jamaica, and rarely performed in public.

College Students Spark Creativity in Kids

June Soh

Children in a Washington neighborhood are excited about building things they designed.

They are participating in a hands-on learning workshop offered by SparkTruck, created by students from Stanford University. Last year, they launched what they call an educational build-mobile and took it on a two-month trip across the country, offering workshops to nearly 3,000 children along the way.

Now, in their second year, they were joined by students from three other California colleges.

Twerk, Selfie Added to Oxford Dictionaries Online

VOA News

The Internet continues to have a major impact on the English language.

In its quarterly update, the Oxford Dictionaries Online has added many words from Internet culture.

Here’s a partial list, but the full list can be seen here.

Hollywood Reflects on Race in Year of Black, Civil Rights Films

Reuters

LOS ANGELES — Race in America has been a hot topic of debate this summer and Hollywood, as if on cue, has muscled its way into the conversation.

This year is shaping up to be a big one in film for African American, black and civil rights themes, offering audiences different lenses through which to consider the complex question of racial equality, both historically and in the present day.

American Author Elmore Leonard Dies

Reuters

NEW YORK — American author Elmore Leonard, whose ear for gritty, realistic dialog helped bring dozens of hard-bitten crooks, cops and cowboys to life in nearly 50 novels, died on Tuesday several weeks after a stroke. He was 87.

“Elmore passed away this morning at 7:15 a.m. at home surrounded by his loving family,” according to an announcement on his website, elmoreleonard.com. It did not provide other details.

Jazz Pianist Marian McPartland Dead at 95

Eric Felten, Bernie Bernard

Marian McPartland, one of the best-known jazz artists in America, died August 20 in Port Washington, New York. She was 95. A musician who broke ground for women instrumentalists in the 1940s and ‘50s, she would later become best known as host of the long-running radio program “Piano Jazz.”

McPartland’s elegant approach to jazz gracefully spanned several major eras, from swing to bebop and beyond. Ms. McPartland brought the musical knowledge earned over decades playing in night-clubs to National Public Radio, where for more than 30 years she hosted “Piano Jazz,” a program that mixed conversation and performance with many of the world’s best musicians.

U.S. blockbusters perform in China, but not at home

BEIJING, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- U.S. science fiction blockbuster "Pacific Rim" has remained top of China's box office charts for a third consecutive week, while it performed poorly in the U.S. film market.

According to box office figures by China Film News on Tuesday, the movie about monsters set in the 2020s, had taken 640 million yuan (104.5 million U.S. dollars) by the week ending Aug. 18, since it debuted in late July.

Competition Pushes the Limits of Longwood Gardens Organ

A century ago, American industrialist and philanthropist Pierre du Pont put his fortune to work planting an elaborate garden in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. Not only were there landscaped grounds and large fountains, du Pont built over one-and-a-half hectares of grand, glass-enclosed greenhouses, or conservatories. Oh yes, and a massive organ with more than 10,000 pipes.

A greenhouse might seem an odd place to put a grand pipe organ. But the conservatories at Longwood Gardens are no ordinary greenhouses. Paul Redman, Director of Longwood Gardens, explains what du Pont had in mind when he had the organ built.

Chinese ballet dancers bring new Jane Eyre to London

LONDON, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) -- Dancers from Shanghai have brought modern ballet Jane Eyre to London, and planned to give five performances at the London Coliseum from Wednesday to Saturday.

The performance, which attracted an audience of about 2,500 on the first day, was the overseas debut of the ballet since its premiere in China last November.

Audio Art Sounds Off at NYC Art Museum

NEW YORK — Art is thought of as a visual medium, but sound is the focus of a new show at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City.

MoMA presents an auditory landscape with an exhibit called "Soundings, a Contemporary Score."

“The museum-goer walks into a space, and because they are in MoMA, they know they are going to see something traditional, like Picasso," said curator Barbara London. "But they are going to see something very unconventional and maybe surprising. Maybe they’re baffled.”

Pope Has Divided Loyalties in Italy-Argentina Friendly Match

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis told the Italian and Argentine soccer teams on Tuesday that he could not decide who to back in their friendly match on Wednesday, but he urged them to set a good example in their behavior on and off the field.

“It's a bit hard for me to decide who to support,” Francis, an Argentine whose parents hailed from northern Italy, said in an audience with players and officials at the Vatican ahead of the fixture, which has been organized in his honor.

Michael Jackson's Ex-Wife Says Doctors Took Advantage of Singer

LOS ANGELES — Michael Jackson's doctors competed for his business and over-prescribed medications to help overcome his “incredible” fear of pain, the late pop singer's ex-wife testified on Wednesday in a wrongful death trial.

“His fear of pain was incredible. I think the doctors took advantage of him that way,” Debbie Rowe said in Los Angeles Superior Court, which is hearing a lawsuit brought by the late singer's family against concert promoter AEG Live.

Futuristic Movie 'Elysium' Underscores Today's Ills

South African filmmaker Neil Blomkamp returns with a new sci-fi film, Elysium. Like his previous futuristic drama District 9, Elysium tackles social separation in a dystopian future.

It's the year 2154, and the world is starkly divided between the haves and the have nots. The downtrodden inhabit an overpopulated polluted earth, while the rich have migrated to Elysium, an outpost in space where there is no poverty or sickness.

Will.i.am Joins American Idol as Judge; Simon Cowell Questioned About Fatherhood Rumors

An exclusive report from omg! Insider says the judges have been chosen for the upcoming 13th season of American Idol.  Country star Keith Urban returns for his second year on the reality show.  He’ll reportedly be joined by will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas and Jennifer Lopez, who was an American Idol judge in 2010 and 2011. Season 13 auditions kicked off in Salt Lake City, Utah on July 11.  Other audition cities include San Francisco, California;

Singer Usher's Ex-Wife Seeks Custody of Sons After Pool Accident

NEW YORK —

The ex-wife of R&B singer Usher is seeking custody of their two young sons after one of them was hospitalized in Atlanta following a swimming pool accident this

week, court papers released on Wednesday showed.

In the documents filed in the Superior Court of Fulton County in Georgia on Tuesday, Tameka Foster, 42, requested an emergency hearing and temporary primary custody of sons, Usher Raymond V,5, and his younger brother Naviyd, 4.

Cambodian TV Show Reunites Families Split by Khmer Rouge

PHNOM PENH — After a four-year reign that killed one-quarter of the population, the Khmer Rouge regime collapsed in 1979, leaving many families disbanded and unable to reconcile the past.

Like many in her generation, Seak Mala's childhood was anything but normal. Separated from her family during the genocide, she found herself alone-no parents, no siblings or aunts when the regime collapsed.

While she and one uncle were born only a year apart, it has been decades since she last saw him, though she retains fond memories.

Writer Captures Flavor of Life in Multicultural Ivory Coast

PARIS — A series of French comic books set in the West African country of Ivory Coast has captivated readers both in Africa and overseas. Now, the film Aya de Yopougon has just been released in French movie houses and will soon be shown in the Ivorian economic capital of Abidjan. French-Ivorian author Marguerite Abouet wrote Aya and currently lives in the suburbs of Paris.

In the movie the viewer travels to the Ivorian city of Abidjan in the 1970s to get caught up in the lives of Aya, Bintu, Fanta and Ignace…and all the other colorful characters living in the ethnically-mixed neighborhood of Yopougon.

Babies Given Away Live on Air in Pakistani Talk Show

ISLAMABAD — Pakistani television is showing what many call its most controversial content yet in a ruthless quest for ratings: a talk-show host who gives away babies live on air.

Aamir Liaquat Hussain, a bespectacled 41-year-old with a neatly trimmed beard, gave away two abandoned infant girls to childless families last month and plans to give away a baby boy this week.

Jagger At 70: Time Is Still On His Side

Mick Jagger once said he couldn’t imagine being a rock and roll singer at the age of 50. That was when he was 29.

On Friday, he turned 70 and he’s still at it, fronting the Rolling Stones, the longest-running rock and roll band ever, and still pulling off the leaping and prancing moves he first showed with the Stones more than 50 years ago.

Lady Gaga Tops Forbes Highest Earnings List ; One Direction Sets VEVO Record

Forbes has released its latest Top-Earning Celebrities Under 30 list.  Lady Gaga leads with an estimated $80 million earned between June 2012 and June 2013.  It should be noted that Lady Gaga stood to earn much more had she not been forced to cancel her “Born This Way” tour in February due to a hip injury.  Rounding out the Top Five are Justin Bieber ($58 million), Taylor Swift ($55 million), Calvin Harris ($46 million) and Rihanna ($43 million).